partíanvsportanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“partían” and “portan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,847
“partían” frequency rank
#23,904
“portan” frequency rank
73751
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature partían portan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de partir o de partirse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de portar o de portarse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set partían and portan apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
partían
6 ch
portan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. partían ([paɾˈt̪iãn]) and portan ([ˈpoɾt̪ãn]) 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 73751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

partían is recorded at frequency rank #49,847, classified as averb, pronounced [paɾˈt̪iãn]. portan is at rank #23,904, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpoɾt̪ãn].

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 73751, this pair ranks #22,663 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of partían vs portan

Shared letters: anprt. Private to "partían": í. Private to "portan": o.

"partían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "portan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • portanoprtan · poratn · porrtan · portann · portna · porttan · potran · pportan

Frequency comparison

partían#49,847
portan#23,904

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "partían" and "portan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paɾˈt̪iãn] versus [ˈpoɾt̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "partían" or "portan"?
"portan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,904 in our Spanish list, against #49,847 for "partían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering partían vs portan

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 “partían” 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