portabavsportadasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: portaba is a verb, portadas is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“portaba” is a verb and “portadas” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,192
“portaba” frequency rank
#12,223
“portadas” frequency rank
42415
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature portaba portadas
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de portar o de portarse. Forma del femenino plural de portado, participio de portar o de portarse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set portaba and portadas apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
portaba
8 ch
portadas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: portaba is [poɾˈt̪aβ̞a] while portadas is [poɾˈt̪að̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42415, 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]. portadas is at rank #12,223, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [poɾˈt̪að̞as].

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 42415, this pair ranks #148,331 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of portaba vs portadas

Shared letters: aoprt. Private to "portaba": b. Private to "portadas": ds.

"portaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "portadas" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • portabaoprtaba · poratba · porrtaba · portaab · portabba · portava · portbaa · porttaba
  • portadasoprtadas · poratdas · porrtadas · portaads · portadass · portaddas · portadsa · portdaas

Frequency comparison

portaba#30,192
portadas#12,223

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "portaba" and "portadas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "portaba" is a verb and "portadas" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "portaba" or "portadas"?
"portadas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,223 in our Spanish list, against #30,192 for "portaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering portaba vs portadas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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