ModevsMotteTell them apart

Which to use

“Mode” and “Motte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,331
“Mode” frequency rank
#32,677
“Motte” frequency rank
36008
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mode Motte
Definition Brauch, Gewohnheit, Sitte Kleinschmetterling mit etwa 1 cm spannenden schmalen Flügeln, dessen Raupe unter anderem Wolle, Seide, Pelzwerk und Tapeten befällt

Where the eye mixes Mode and Motte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Mode
5 ch
Motte

Why the eye confuses Mode with Motte

A purely visual mix-up. Mode ([ˈmoːdə]) and Motte ([ˈmɔtə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36008, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mode is recorded at frequency rank #3,331, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmoːdə]. Motte is at rank #32,677, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɔtə].

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 36008, this pair ranks #1,626,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Mode vs Motte

Shared letters: emo. Private to "Mode": d. Private to "Motte": t.

"Mode" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Motte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Modemdoe · mmode · modde · moed · omde
  • Mottemmotte · mote · motet · mtote · omtte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Mode" and "Motte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmoːdə] versus [ˈmɔtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Mode" or "Motte" show up more?
"Mode" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,331 in our German list, against #32,677 for "Motte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Mode" and "Motte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mode" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Motte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,626,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mode" and "Motte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Möhre vs Motte". 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 #1,626,253 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list