pentevsporteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“pente” and “porte” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,363
“pente” frequency rank
#4,093
“porte” frequency rank
20456
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pente porte
Definition objeto usado para pentear o cabelo o ato de portar, transportar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pente and porte apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
pente
5 ch
porte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pente (/ˈpẽ.tɨ/) and porte (/ˈpɔɾ.tɨ/) 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 20456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pente is recorded at frequency rank #16,363, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpẽ.tɨ/. porte is at rank #4,093, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɔɾ.tɨ/.

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 20456, this pair ranks #50,070 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pente vs porte

Shared letters: ept. Private to "pente": n. Private to "porte": or.

"pente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "porte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • penteepnte · penet · pennte · pentte · petne · pnete · ppente
  • porteoprte · poret · porrte · portte · potre · pporte · prote

Frequency comparison

pente#16,363
porte#4,093

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pente" and "porte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpẽ.tɨ/ versus /ˈpɔɾ.tɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pente" or "porte"?
"porte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,093 in our Portuguese list, against #16,363 for "pente". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pente vs porte

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 “pente” 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