Which to use
“patent” is an adjective and “portent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,663
- “patent” frequency rank
- #2,731
- “portent” frequency rank
- 37394
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patent | portent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clair, manifeste, qui est évident. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de porter. |
Where the eye mixes patent and portent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. patent runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against portent's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: patent vs portent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: patent is \pa.tɑ̃\ while portent is \pɔʁt\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37394, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patent is recorded at frequency rank #34,663, classified as anadj, pronounced \pa.tɑ̃\. portent is at rank #2,731, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɔʁt\.
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 37394, this pair ranks #262,792 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patent vs portent
Shared letters: enpt. Private to "patent": a. Private to "portent": or.
"patent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "portent" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "patent" and "portent" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "patent" or "portent" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "patent" and "portent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "patent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "portent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #262,792 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patent" and "portent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patent vs payen". 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 #262,792 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.