portarvsportarseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,045
“portar” frequency rank
#41,549
“portarse” frequency rank
59594
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature portar portarse
Definition Llevar algo apoyado en el cuerpo o con la mano. :*Uso: formal Tener una determinada conducta.

Where the eye mixes portar and portarse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. portar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against portarse's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
portar
8 ch
portarse

Look-alike desk: portar vs portarse

A purely visual mix-up. portar ([poɾˈt̪aɾ]) and portarse ([poɾˈt̪aɾse]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “portar” sits inside “portarse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

portar is recorded at frequency rank #18,045, classified as averb, pronounced [poɾˈt̪aɾ]. portarse is at rank #41,549, tagged as averb, pronounced [poɾˈt̪aɾse].

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 59594, this pair ranks #62,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of portar vs portarse

Shared letters: aoprt. Private to "portar": -. Private to "portarse": es.

"portar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "portarse" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • portar ← oprtar · poratr · porrtar · portarr · portra · porttar · potrar · pportar
  • portarse ← oprtarse · poratrse · porrtarse · portarce · portares · portarrse · portarsse · portasre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "portar" for "portarse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([poɾˈt̪aɾ] versus [poɾˈt̪aɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "portar" vs "portarse" - which ranks higher?
"portar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,045 in our Spanish list, against #41,549 for "portarse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "portar" and "portarse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "portar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "portarse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "portar" and "portarse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "partirse vs portarse". 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 #62,039 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