Which to use
“acerta” is a verb and “alerta” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,590
- “acerta” frequency rank
- #2,551
- “alerta” frequency rank
- 15141
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | acerta | alerta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo acertar | que está em estado de prontidão |
Where the eye mixes acerta and alerta
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses acerta with alerta
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acerta is /ɐ.ˈsɛɹ.tɐ/ while alerta is /a.ˈlɛɾ.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “acerta” becomes l in “alerta”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15141, 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/. alerta is at rank #2,551, tagged as anadj, pronounced /a.ˈlɛɾ.tɐ/.
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 15141, this pair ranks #56,765 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of acerta vs alerta
Shared letters: aert. Private to "acerta": c. Private to "alerta": l.
"acerta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "alerta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "acerta" for "alerta" ever safe?
Which is more common, "acerta" or "alerta"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "acerta" and "alerta" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "acerta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alerta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #56,765 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "acerta" and "alerta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acerta vs aorta". 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 #56,765 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.