portiervsportièresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,970
“portier” frequency rank
#35,650
“portières” frequency rank
52620
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature portier portières
Definition Homme dont la profession est de garder une porte d’entrée. Pluriel de portière.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set portier and portières apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
portier
9 ch
portières

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. portier (\pɔʁ.tje\) and portières (\pɔʁ.tjɛʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

portier is recorded at frequency rank #16,970, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔʁ.tje\. portières is at rank #35,650, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔʁ.tjɛʁ\.

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 52620, this pair ranks #146,430 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of portier vs portières

Shared letters: eioprt. Private to "portier": -. Private to "portières": .

"portier" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "portières" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • portieroprtier · poriter · porrtier · porteir · portierr · portire · porttier · potrier

Frequency comparison

portier#16,970
portières#35,650

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "portier" and "portières" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɔʁ.tje\ versus \pɔʁ.tjɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "portier" or "portières"?
"portier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,970 in our French list, against #35,650 for "portières". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering portier vs portières

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “portier” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list