modalvsmoraConfusable pair

Quick tell: modal is a adjective, mora is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“modal” is an adjective and “mora” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,521
“modal” frequency rank
#25,144
“mora” frequency rank
49665
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modal mora
Definition Of, or relating to a mode or modus. A delay in bringing a claim.

Where the eye mixes modal and mora

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

5 ch
modal
4 ch
mora

Look-alike desk: modal vs mora

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: modal is /ˈməʊdəl/ while mora is /ˈmɔːɹə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modal is recorded at frequency rank #24,521, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈməʊdəl/. mora is at rank #25,144, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔːɹə/.

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 49665, this pair ranks #181,500 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of modal vs mora

Shared letters: amo. Private to "modal": dl. Private to "mora": r.

"modal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "mora" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modalmdoal · mmodal · moadl · modall · moddal · modla · omdal
  • morammora · morra · mroa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "modal" for "mora" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "modal" is an adjective and "mora" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "modal" or "mora" show up more?
"modal" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,521 in our English list, against #25,144 for "mora". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "modal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mora" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #181,500 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modal" and "mora" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mora vs MPAA". 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 #181,500 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list