portraitvsPorträtsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,897
“portrait” frequency rank
#15,722
“Porträts” frequency rank
30619
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature portrait Porträts
Definition Porträt Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Porträt

Where the eye mixes portrait and Porträts

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. portrait (CVCCCVVC) and Porträts (CVCCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
portrait
8 ch
Porträts

Why the eye confuses portrait with Porträts

A purely visual mix-up. portrait ([ˈpɔː(ɹ)tɹət]) and Porträts ([pɔʁˈtʁɛːs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30619, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

portrait is recorded at frequency rank #14,897, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɔː(ɹ)tɹət]. Porträts is at rank #15,722, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɔʁˈtʁɛːs].

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 30619, this pair ranks #1,744,323 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of portrait vs Porträts

Shared letters: oprt. Private to "portrait": ai. Private to "Porträts": sä.

"portrait" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC  ·  "Porträts" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • portrait ← oprtrait · porrtait · porrtrait · portarit · portraitt · portrati · portriat · portrrait

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "portrait" and "Porträts" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpɔː(ɹ)tɹət] versus [pɔʁˈtʁɛːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "portrait" or "Porträts" show up more?
"portrait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,897 in our German list, against #15,722 for "Porträts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "portrait" and "Porträts" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "portrait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Porträts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,744,323 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "portrait" and "Porträts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Portals vs Porträts". 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 #1,744,323 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list