platillovsportilloWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,044
“platillo” frequency rank
#18,351
“portillo” frequency rank
36395
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature platillo portillo
Definition Pieza pequeña que figura semejante al plato, cualquiera que sea su uso y la materia de la que esté formada. Hueco en una dentadura que se produce cuando se quita un diente, en especial, una muela.

Where the eye mixes platillo and portillo

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

8 ch
platillo
8 ch
portillo

Look-alike desk: platillo vs portillo

A purely visual mix-up. platillo ([plaˈt̪iʝo]) and portillo ([poɾˈt̪iʝo]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36395, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

platillo is recorded at frequency rank #18,044, classified as anoun, pronounced [plaˈt̪iʝo]. portillo is at rank #18,351, tagged as anoun, pronounced [poɾˈt̪iʝo].

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 36395, this pair ranks #180,835 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of platillo vs portillo

Shared letters: ilopt. Private to "platillo": a. Private to "portillo": r.

"platillo" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV  ·  "portillo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • platillo ← lpatillo · paltillo · plaitllo · platilo · platilol · platlilo · plattillo · pllatillo
  • portillo ← oprtillo · poritllo · porrtillo · portilo · portilol · portlilo · porttillo · potrillo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "platillo" and "portillo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([plaˈt̪iʝo] versus [poɾˈt̪iʝo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "platillo" vs "portillo" - which ranks higher?
"platillo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,044 in our Spanish list, against #18,351 for "portillo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "platillo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "portillo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #180,835 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "platillo" and "portillo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patilla vs platillo". 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 #180,835 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