apertovsapitoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,129
“aperto” frequency rank
#14,770
“apito” frequency rank
24899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aperto apito
Definition ato de apertar instrumento feito em madeira, metal, plástico ou outro material que produz som ao ser assoprado, e usado com diversos fins como alarme, instrumento musical, sinalização, caça, etc.

Where the eye mixes aperto and apito

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
aperto
5 ch
apito

Look-alike desk: aperto vs apito

A purely visual mix-up. aperto (/ɐ.ˈpeɾ.tu/) and apito (/aˈpi.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 24899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aperto is recorded at frequency rank #10,129, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ.ˈpeɾ.tu/. apito is at rank #14,770, tagged as anoun, pronounced /aˈpi.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 24899, this pair ranks #44,553 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aperto vs apito

Shared letters: aopt. Private to "aperto": er. Private to "apito": i.

"aperto" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "apito" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apertoaeprto · aperot · aperrto · apertto · apetro · apperto · apreto · paerto
  • apitoaipto · apiot · apitto · appito · aptio · paito

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aperto" and "apito" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.ˈpeɾ.tu/ versus /aˈpi.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aperto" vs "apito" - which ranks higher?
"aperto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,129 in our Portuguese list, against #14,770 for "apito". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aperto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #44,553 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aperto" and "apito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apito vs apo". 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 #44,553 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