pombavsportaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,359
“pomba” frequency rank
#832
“porta” frequency rank
18191
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pomba porta
Definition ave columbiforme da família dos columbídeos peça de madeira, metal ou vidro usada para fechar o buraco aberto numa construção por onde pessoas passam de um cômodo para outro ou de dentro para fora da construção

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
pomba
5 ch
porta

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pomba (/ˈpõ.bɐ/) and porta (/ˈpɔɾ.tɐ/) 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 18191, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pomba is recorded at frequency rank #17,359, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpõ.bɐ/. porta is at rank #832, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɔɾ.tɐ/.

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 18191, this pair ranks #52,854 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pomba vs porta

Shared letters: aop. Private to "pomba": bm. Private to "porta": rt.

"pomba" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "porta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pombaopmba · pmoba · pobma · pomab · pombba · pommba · ppomba
  • portaoprta · porat · porrta · portta · potra · pporta · prota

Frequency comparison

pomba#17,359
porta#832

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pomba" and "porta" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpõ.bɐ/ versus /ˈpɔɾ.tɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pomba" or "porta"?
"porta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #832 in our Portuguese list, against #17,359 for "pomba". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pomba vs porta

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 “pomba” 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