portablevsportaleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“portable” and “portale” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,391
“portable” frequency rank
#18,356
“portale” frequency rank
66747
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature portable portale
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs portabel Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs portal

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
portable
7 ch
portale

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. portable ([pɔʁˈtaːblə]) and portale ([pɔʁˈtaːlə]) 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 66747, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

portable is recorded at frequency rank #48,391, classified as anadj, pronounced [pɔʁˈtaːblə]. portale is at rank #18,356, tagged as anadj, pronounced [pɔʁˈtaːlə].

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 66747, this pair ranks #562,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of portable vs portale

Shared letters: aeloprt. Private to "portable": b. Private to "portale": -.

"portable" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "portale" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • portableoprtable · poratble · porrtable · portabble · portabel · portablle · portalbe · portbale
  • portaleoprtale · poratle · porrtale · portael · portalle · portlae · porttale · potrale

Frequency comparison

portable#48,391
portale#18,356

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "portable" and "portale" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɔʁˈtaːblə] versus [pɔʁˈtaːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "portable" or "portale"?
"portale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,356 in our German list, against #48,391 for "portable". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering portable vs portale

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “portable” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list