Turn this distinction into automatic recall
Falando teaches Brazilian Portuguese through grammar, vocabulary, audio, examples, and spaced review, so confusing pairs stop feeling like guesses.
Quick answer
Acerca de is about a topic. A cerca de is approximate distance/amount. Ha cerca de is time ago.
A reliable test is to identify the job of the word before translating from English.
What each word does
acerca de
about
Use acerca de for topic or subject matter.
a cerca de
approximately at a distance of
Use a cerca de for distance or approximate quantity with a.
ha cerca de
about ago
Use ha cerca de for elapsed time in the past.
How to choose
- acerca de: Choose acerca de if the sentence points to topic or subject matter.
- a cerca de: Choose a cerca de if the sentence points to distance or approximate quantity with a.
- ha cerca de: Choose ha cerca de if the sentence points to elapsed time in the past.
Examples
Falamos acerca do projeto.
We spoke about the project.
Fica a cerca de dez quilometros.
It is about ten kilometers away.
Cheguei ha cerca de uma hora.
I arrived about an hour ago.
Common trap
The accentless a and the verb ha carry different time and distance meanings.
Practice it in context
Pick one sentence from your real life and write it twice: once with acerca de, then once with a cerca de. If both versions feel possible, name the meaning shift.
Turn this distinction into automatic recall
Falando teaches Brazilian Portuguese through grammar, vocabulary, audio, examples, and spaced review, so confusing pairs stop feeling like guesses.