Which to use
“porta” is a noun and “portaba” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,734
- “porta” frequency rank
- #30,192
- “portaba” frequency rank
- 40926
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | porta | portaba |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cada una de las aberturas, a modo de ventanas, que se practican en los costados y en la popa de los buques, para dar luz y ventilación al interior de los mismos, para verificar su carga y descarga y muy principalmente para el juego de la artillería. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de portar o de portarse. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set porta and portaba apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: porta is [ˈpoɾt̪a] while portaba is [poɾˈt̪aβ̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “porta” sits inside “portaba”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
porta is recorded at frequency rank #10,734, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpoɾt̪a]. portaba is at rank #30,192, tagged as averb, pronounced [poɾˈt̪aβ̞a].
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 40926, this pair ranks #156,446 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of porta vs portaba
Shared letters: aoprt. Private to "porta": -. Private to "portaba": b.
"porta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "portaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "porta" and "portaba" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "porta" or "portaba"?
Remembering porta vs portaba
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “porta”; for a verb, it's “portaba”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “porta” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable