portillonvsportionWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,521
“portillon” frequency rank
#7,101
“portion” frequency rank
54622
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature portillon portion
Definition Petite porte. Partie d’un tout divisé, ou considéré comme tel.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set portillon and portion apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
portillon
7 ch
portion

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. portillon (\pɔʁ.ti.jɔ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54622, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

portillon is recorded at frequency rank #47,521, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔʁ.ti.jɔ̃\. 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 54622, this pair ranks #132,761 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of portillon vs portion

Shared letters: inoprt. Private to "portillon": l. Private to "portion": -.

"portillon" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "portion" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • portillonoprtillon · poritllon · porrtillon · portillno · portillonn · portiloln · portilon · portlilon
  • portionoprtion · poriton · porrtion · portino · portionn · portoin · porttion · potrion

Frequency comparison

portillon#47,521
portion#7,101

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "portillon" and "portion" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɔʁ.ti.jɔ̃\ versus \pɔʁ.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "portillon" or "portion"?
"portion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,101 in our French list, against #47,521 for "portillon". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering portillon vs portion

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 “portillon” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list