portesvspotesTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#33,283
“portes” frequency rank
#48,003
“potes” frequency rank
81286
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature portes potes
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de portar. Forma del plural de pote.

Where the eye mixes portes and potes

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

6 ch
portes
5 ch
potes

Look-alike desk: portes vs potes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: portes is [ˈpoɾt̪es] while potes is [ˈpot̪es]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

portes is recorded at frequency rank #33,283, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpoɾt̪es]. potes is at rank #48,003, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpot̪es].

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 81286, this pair ranks #10,595 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of portes vs potes

Shared letters: eopst. Private to "portes": r. Private to "potes": -.

"portes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "potes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • portesoprtes · porets · porrtes · portess · portse · porttes · potres · pportes
  • potesoptes · poets · potess · pottes · ppotes · ptoes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "portes" for "potes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "portes" is a verb and "potes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "portes" vs "potes" - which ranks higher?
"portes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,283 in our Spanish list, against #48,003 for "potes". 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 "portes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "potes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,595 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "portes" and "potes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "postas vs potes". 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 #10,595 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