Which to use
“acerta” and “acertar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,590
- “acerta” frequency rank
- #5,590
- “acertar” frequency rank
- 18180
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | acerta | acertar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo acertar | pôr acerto em |
Where the eye mixes acerta and acertar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. acerta runs 6 letters (VCVCCV) against acertar's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between acerta and acertar
A purely visual mix-up. acerta (/ɐ.ˈsɛɹ.tɐ/) and acertar (/ɐ.sɨɾ.ˈtaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “acerta” sits inside “acertar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18180, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
acerta is recorded at frequency rank #12,590, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.ˈsɛɹ.tɐ/. acertar is at rank #5,590, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.sɨɾ.ˈtaɾ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 18180, this pair ranks #52,867 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of acerta vs acertar
Shared letters: acert. Private to "acerta": -. Private to "acertar": -.
"acerta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "acertar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "acerta" for "acertar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "acerta" vs "acertar" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "acerta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "acertar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,867 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "acerta" and "acertar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acentuar vs acertar". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #52,867 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.