apelarvsapertarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,444
“apelar” frequency rank
#6,837
“apertar” frequency rank
23281
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apelar apertar
Definition chamar em socorro aproximar muito forçando

Letter map: apelar vs apertar

Shared letters muted; letters that set apelar and apertar apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

6 ch
apelar
7 ch
apertar

Pair insight - apelar / apertar

apelar and apertar are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23281, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apelar is recorded at frequency rank #16,444, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.pɨ.ˈlaɾ/. apertar is at rank #6,837, tagged as averb.

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 23281, this pair ranks #46,575 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of apelar vs apertar

Shared letters: aepr. Private to "apelar": l. Private to "apertar": t.

"apelar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "apertar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apelaraeplar · apealr · apelarr · apellar · apelra · aplear · appelar · paelar
  • apertaraeprtar · aperatr · aperrtar · apertarr · apertra · aperttar · apetrar · appertar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "apelar" for "apertar" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "apelar" vs "apertar" - which ranks higher?
"apertar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,837 in our Portuguese list, against #16,444 for "apelar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "apelar" and "apertar".

  • Full dictionary entry for "apelar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apertar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #46,575 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apelar" and "apertar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aparar vs apelar". 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 #46,575 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