Which to use
“portons” and “pouvons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,983
- “portons” frequency rank
- #1,930
- “pouvons” frequency rank
- 25913
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | portons | pouvons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de porter. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de pouvoir. |
Where the eye mixes portons and pouvons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. portons (CVCCVCC) and pouvons (CVVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses portons with pouvons
A purely visual mix-up. portons (\pɔʁ.tɔ̃\) and pouvons (\pu.vɔ̃\) 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 25913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
portons is recorded at frequency rank #23,983, classified as averb, pronounced \pɔʁ.tɔ̃\. pouvons is at rank #1,930, tagged as averb, pronounced \pu.vɔ̃\.
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 25913, this pair ranks #338,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of portons vs pouvons
Shared letters: nops. Private to "portons": rt. Private to "pouvons": uv.
"portons" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "pouvons" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "portons" for "pouvons" ever safe?
Which is more common, "portons" or "pouvons"?
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 "portons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pouvons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #338,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "portons" and "pouvons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parions vs portons". 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 #338,170 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.