pobresvsportesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pobres is a adjective, portes is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pobres” is an adjective and “portes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,420
“pobres” frequency rank
#33,283
“portes” frequency rank
34703
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pobres portes
Definition Forma del plural de pobre. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de portar.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
pobres
6 ch
portes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pobres is [ˈpoβ̞ɾes] while portes is [ˈpoɾt̪es]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34703, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pobres is recorded at frequency rank #1,420, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpoβ̞ɾes]. 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 34703, this pair ranks #190,022 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pobres vs portes

Shared letters: eoprs. Private to "pobres": b. Private to "portes": t.

"pobres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "portes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pobresopbres · pbores · pobbres · pobers · pobress · pobrres · pobrse · porbes
  • portesoprtes · porets · porrtes · portess · portse · porttes · potres · pportes

Frequency comparison

pobres#1,420
portes#33,283

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pobres" and "portes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pobres" is an adjective and "portes" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pobres" or "portes"?
"pobres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,420 in our Spanish list, against #33,283 for "portes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pobres vs portes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pobres”; for a verb, it's “portes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pobres” 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