acústicavsacústicoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: acústica is a noun, acústico is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“acústica” is a noun and “acústico” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,639
“acústica” frequency rank
#10,820
“acústico” frequency rank
21459
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acústica acústico
Definition a ciência do som que se refere à percepção de sons

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acústica and acústico apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
acústica
8 ch
acústico

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acústica is /ɐ.ˈkuʃ.ti.kɐ/ while acústico is /ɐ.ˈkuʃ.ti.ku/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “acústica” becomes o in “acústico”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21459, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acústica is recorded at frequency rank #10,639, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈkuʃ.ti.kɐ/. acústico is at rank #10,820, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɐ.ˈkuʃ.ti.ku/.

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 21459, this pair ranks #48,795 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of acústica vs acústico

Shared letters: acistú. Private to "acústica": -. Private to "acústico": o.

"acústica" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "acústico" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV

Frequency comparison

acústica#10,639
acústico#10,820

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acústica" and "acústico" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "acústica" is a noun and "acústico" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "acústica" or "acústico"?
"acústica" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,639 in our Portuguese list, against #10,820 for "acústico". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acústica vs acústico

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “acústica”; for an adjective, it's “acústico”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “acústica” 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