ponctionvsportionConfusable pair

Which to use

“ponction” and “portion” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#28,696
“ponction” frequency rank
#7,101
“portion” frequency rank
35797
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ponction portion
Definition Opération par laquelle on évacue les liquides épanchés dans quelque partie du corps, en y faisant une ouverture. Partie d’un tout divisé, ou considéré comme tel.

Where the eye mixes ponction and portion

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
ponction
7 ch
portion

Why the eye confuses ponction with portion

A purely visual mix-up. ponction (\pɔ̃k.sjɔ̃\) and portion (\pɔʁ.sjɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35797, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ponction is recorded at frequency rank #28,696, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔ̃k.sjɔ̃\. portion is at rank #7,101, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔʁ.sjɔ̃\.

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 35797, this pair ranks #274,164 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ponction vs portion

Shared letters: inopt. Private to "ponction": c. Private to "portion": r.

"ponction" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC  ·  "portion" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ponctionopnction · pnoction · pocntion · poncction · ponciton · ponctino · ponctionn · ponctoin
  • portionoprtion · poriton · porrtion · portino · portionn · portoin · porttion · potrion

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ponction" and "portion" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\pɔ̃k.sjɔ̃\ versus \pɔʁ.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ponction" or "portion"?
"portion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,101 in our French list, against #28,696 for "ponction". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "ponction" and "portion" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ponction" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "portion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #274,164 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ponction" and "portion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ponction vs ponton". 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 #274,164 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list