PortervsportesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Porter is a name, portes is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Porter” is a name and “portes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,794
“Porter” frequency rank
#33,283
“portes” frequency rank
51077
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Porter portes
Definition Apellido Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de portar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Porter and portes apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Porter
6 ch
portes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Porter is [poɾˈt̪eɾ] while portes is [ˈpoɾt̪es]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “Porter” becomes s in “portes”, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51077, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Porter is recorded at frequency rank #17,794, classified as aname, pronounced [poɾˈt̪eɾ]. 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 51077, this pair ranks #99,791 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Porter vs portes

Shared letters: eoprt. Private to "Porter": -. Private to "portes": s.

"Porter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "portes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Porteroprter · poretr · porrter · porterr · portre · portter · potrer · pporter
  • portesoprtes · porets · porrtes · portess · portse · porttes · potres · pportes

Frequency comparison

Porter#17,794
portes#33,283

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Porter" and "portes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Porter" is a name and "portes" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Porter" or "portes"?
"Porter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,794 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.

Remembering Porter vs portes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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