Which to use
“parsons” and “portons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,102
- “parsons” frequency rank
- #23,983
- “portons” frequency rank
- 56085
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parsons | portons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe parser. | Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de porter. |
Where the eye mixes parsons and portons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. parsons and portons follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses parsons with portons
A purely visual mix-up. parsons (\paʁ.sɔ̃\) and portons (\pɔʁ.tɔ̃\) 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 56085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
parsons is recorded at frequency rank #32,102, classified as averb, pronounced \paʁ.sɔ̃\. portons is at rank #23,983, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɔʁ.tɔ̃\.
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 56085, this pair ranks #123,344 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of parsons vs portons
Shared letters: noprs. Private to "parsons": a. Private to "portons": t.
"parsons" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "portons" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "parsons" for "portons" ever safe?
Frequency check: "parsons" vs "portons" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "parsons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "portons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #123,344 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parsons" and "portons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parsons vs persans". 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 #123,344 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.