aparatovsapertoConfusable pair

Which to use

“aparato” and “aperto” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,219
“aparato” frequency rank
#10,129
“aperto” frequency rank
26348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aparato aperto
Definition ostentação em atos públicos ou particulares ato de apertar

Where the eye mixes aparato and aperto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. aparato runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against aperto's 6 (VCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
aparato
6 ch
aperto

Look-alike desk: aparato vs aperto

A purely visual mix-up. aparato (/ɐ.pɐ.ˈɾa.tu/) and aperto (/ɐ.ˈpeɾ.tu/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aparato is recorded at frequency rank #16,219, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.pɐ.ˈɾa.tu/. aperto is at rank #10,129, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈpeɾ.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 26348, this pair ranks #42,835 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aparato vs aperto

Shared letters: aoprt. Private to "aparato": -. Private to "aperto": e.

"aparato" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "aperto" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aparato ← aaprato · apaarto · aparaot · aparatto · aparrato · apartao · apparato · apraato
  • aperto ← aeprto · aperot · aperrto · apertto · apetro · apperto · apreto · paerto

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aparato" for "aperto" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.pɐ.ˈɾa.tu/ versus /ɐ.ˈpeɾ.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "aparato" or "aperto" show up more?
"aperto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,129 in our Portuguese list, against #16,219 for "aparato". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aparato" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aperto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #42,835 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aparato" and "aperto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aparar vs aparato". 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 #42,835 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list