portabavsportadoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,192
“portaba” frequency rank
#28,511
“portado” frequency rank
58703
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature portaba portado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de portar o de portarse. Participio de portar o de portarse.

Where the eye mixes portaba and portado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
portaba
7 ch
portado

Why the eye confuses portaba with portado

A purely visual mix-up. portaba ([poɾˈt̪aβ̞a]) and portado ([poɾˈt̪að̞o]) 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 58703, 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]. portado is at rank #28,511, tagged as averb, pronounced [poɾˈt̪að̞o].

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 58703, this pair ranks #65,476 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of portaba vs portado

Shared letters: aoprt. Private to "portaba": b. Private to "portado": d.

"portaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "portado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • portabaoprtaba · poratba · porrtaba · portaab · portabba · portava · portbaa · porttaba
  • portadooprtado · poratdo · porrtado · portaddo · portaod · portdao · porttado · potrado

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "portaba" and "portado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([poɾˈt̪aβ̞a] versus [poɾˈt̪að̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "portaba" vs "portado" - which ranks higher?
"portado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,511 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.

What to do next

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 "portado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #65,476 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "portaba" and "portado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "portado vs posado". 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 #65,476 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