Which to use
“portion” and “potions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,101
- “portion” frequency rank
- #36,105
- “potions” frequency rank
- 43206
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | portion | potions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie d’un tout divisé, ou considéré comme tel. | Pluriel de potion. |
Where the eye mixes portion and potions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between portion and potions
A purely visual mix-up. portion (\pɔʁ.sjɔ̃\) and potions (\pɔ.sjɔ̃\) 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 5 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43206, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
portion is recorded at frequency rank #7,101, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔʁ.sjɔ̃\. potions is at rank #36,105, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.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 43206, this pair ranks #219,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of portion vs potions
Shared letters: inopt. Private to "portion": r. Private to "potions": s.
"portion" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "potions" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "portion" and "potions" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "portion" vs "potions" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "portion" and "potions" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "portion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "potions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #219,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "portion" and "potions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "potiers vs potions". 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 #219,848 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.