Which to use
“portaba” is a verb and “portada” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,192
- “portaba” frequency rank
- #3,648
- “portada” frequency rank
- 33840
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | portaba | portada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de portar o de portarse. | Página de un libro donde, generalmente, aparecen el nombre del autor, el título del libro y la editorial. |
Where the eye mixes portaba and portada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. portaba and portada follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: portaba vs portada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: portaba is [poɾˈt̪aβ̞a] while portada is [poɾˈt̪að̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “portaba” becomes d in “portada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33840, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
portaba is recorded at frequency rank #30,192, classified as averb, pronounced [poɾˈt̪aβ̞a]. portada is at rank #3,648, tagged as anoun, pronounced [poɾˈt̪að̞a].
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 33840, this pair ranks #194,623 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of portaba vs portada
Shared letters: aoprt. Private to "portaba": b. Private to "portada": d.
"portaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "portada" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "portaba" for "portada" ever safe?
Which is more common, "portaba" or "portada"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "portaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "portada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #194,623 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "portaba" and "portada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "portaba vs portazo". 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 #194,623 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.