piresvsportesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,328
“pires” frequency rank
#33,283
“portes” frequency rank
80611
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pires portes
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de pirar o de pirarse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de portar.

Where the eye mixes pires and portes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pires runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against portes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
pires
6 ch
portes

Why the eye confuses pires with portes

A purely visual mix-up. pires ([ˈpiɾes]) and portes ([ˈpoɾt̪es]) 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 80611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pires is recorded at frequency rank #47,328, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpiɾes]. portes is at rank #33,283, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpoɾt̪es].

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 80611, this pair ranks #11,427 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pires vs portes

Shared letters: eprs. Private to "pires": i. Private to "portes": ot.

"pires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "portes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pires ← ipres · piers · piress · pirres · pirse · ppires · pries
  • portes ← oprtes · porets · porrtes · portess · portse · porttes · potres · pportes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pires" for "portes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpiɾes] versus [ˈpoɾt̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pires" or "portes"?
"portes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,283 in our Spanish list, against #47,328 for "pires". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pires" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "portes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,427 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pires" and "portes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pires vs prey". 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 #11,427 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list