portarvsportesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,045
“portar” frequency rank
#33,283
“portes” frequency rank
51328
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature portar portes
Definition Llevar algo apoyado en el cuerpo o con la mano. :*Uso: formal Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de portar.

Where the eye mixes portar and portes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. portar and portes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
portar
6 ch
portes

Why the eye confuses portar with portes

A purely visual mix-up. portar ([poɾˈt̪aɾ]) and portes ([ˈpoɾt̪es]) 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 51328, 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]. portes is at rank #33,283, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpoɾt̪es].

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 51328, this pair ranks #98,449 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of portar vs portes

Shared letters: oprt. Private to "portar": a. Private to "portes": es.

"portar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "portes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • portar ← oprtar · poratr · porrtar · portarr · portra · porttar · potrar · pportar
  • portes ← oprtes · porets · porrtes · portess · portse · porttes · potres · pportes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "portar" and "portes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([poɾˈt̪aɾ] versus [ˈpoɾt̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "portar" or "portes"?
"portar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,045 in our Spanish list, against #33,283 for "portes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "portar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "portes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #98,449 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "portar" and "portes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "portes vs postas". 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 #98,449 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