Which to use
“perfs” and “ports” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,951
- “perfs” frequency rank
- #6,642
- “ports” frequency rank
- 53593
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perfs | ports |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de perf. | Pluriel de port. |
Where the eye mixes perfs and ports
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. perfs and ports follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between perfs and ports
A purely visual mix-up. perfs (\pɛʁf\) and ports (\pɔʁ\) 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 53593, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
perfs is recorded at frequency rank #46,951, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁf\. ports is at rank #6,642, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔʁ\.
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 53593, this pair ranks #139,663 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of perfs vs ports
Shared letters: prs. Private to "perfs": ef. Private to "ports": ot.
"perfs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "ports" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "perfs" for "ports" ever safe?
Which is more common, "perfs" or "ports"?
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 "perfs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ports" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #139,663 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perfs" and "ports" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perfs vs pètes". 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 #139,663 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.