modal

[moˈdaːl]

/[moˈdaːl]/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“modal” is uncommon German (frequency #73,804 among 3,571 “M” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,804
frequency rank, German
3,571
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - durch Verhältnisse bedingt

Corpus desk

Index DE-modal · modal · German

modal · rank #73,804 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,804
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,571
  • PHOTO-FINISH Mittelwerte

Nearest frequency peer: Mittelwerte (-2 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „modal“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „modal“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for modal
PropertyValue
Headwordmodal
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[moˈdaːl]
Letters5
Frequency rank#73,804
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „modal“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).modalfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Mittelwerte“ (#73,802), „Molekularbiologie“ (#73,806), „Montréal“ (#73,807). Unter 3,571 „M“-Lemmata liegt „modal“ bei #73,804. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

modal is uncommon German at frequency #73,804 among 3,571 “M” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [moˈdaːl]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for modal, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is modal, spelled M-O-D-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    durch Verhältnisse bedingt
  2. 2
    die Art und Weise (als grammatische oder semantische Kategorie) betreffend
  3. 3
    die Modalnotation betreffend, oder einer Kirchentonart zugehörig

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how modal appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Indem“ ist eine modale Subjunktion im Deutschen.

Antonyms

direktionalfinalkausalkonditionalkonsekutivkonzessivlokaltemporal

This word in other languages

modal(English)modal(Español)modal(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "modal"?
"modal" is spelled M-O-D-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is [moˈdaːl].
What does "modal" mean?
As an adjective, "modal" means: durch Verhältnisse bedingt
How do you pronounce "modal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "modal" is [moˈdaːl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "modal" come from?
"modal" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "modal", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Moriz#73,808moyen#73,815Myron#73,821Mayas#73,785

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list