acertavsacertoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: acerta is a verb, acerto is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

“acerta” is a verb and “acerto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,590
“acerta” frequency rank
#9,134
“acerto” frequency rank
21724
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acerta acerto
Definition terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo acertar ato ou efeito de fazer certo ou realizar corretamente

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acerta and acerto apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
acerta
6 ch
acerto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acerta is /ɐ.ˈsɛɹ.tɐ/ while acerto is /ɐ.ˈseɾ.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “acerta” becomes o in “acerto”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21724, 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/. acerto is at rank #9,134, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈseɾ.tu/.

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 21724, this pair ranks #48,457 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of acerta vs acerto

Shared letters: acert. Private to "acerta": -. Private to "acerto": o.

"acerta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "acerto" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acerta ← accerta · acerat · acerrta · acertta · acetra · acreta · aecrta · caerta
  • acerto ← accerto · acerot · acerrto · acertto · acetro · acreto · aecrto · caerto

Frequency comparison

acerta#12,590
acerto#9,134

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acerta" and "acerto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "acerta" is a verb and "acerto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "acerta" or "acerto"?
"acerto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,134 in our Portuguese list, against #12,590 for "acerta". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acerta vs acerto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “acerta”; for a noun, it's “acerto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “acerta” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list