modevsmodelsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“mode” and “models” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,357
“mode” frequency rank
#1,871
“models” frequency rank
4228
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mode models
Definition One of several common scales in modern Western music, one of which corresponds to the modern major scale and one to the natural minor scale. plural of model

Where the eye mixes mode and models

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mode
6 ch
models

Look-alike desk: mode vs models

A purely visual mix-up. mode (/moʊd/) and models (/ˈmɒd.l̩z/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “mode” sits inside “models”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mode is recorded at frequency rank #2,357, classified as anoun, pronounced /moʊd/. models is at rank #1,871, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɒd.l̩z/.

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 4228, this pair ranks #519,582 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mode vs models

Shared letters: demo. Private to "mode": -. Private to "models": ls.

"mode" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "models" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modemdoe · mmode · modde · moed · omde
  • modelsmdoels · mmodels · moddels · modells · modelss · modesl · modles · moedls

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mode" and "models" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/moʊd/ versus /ˈmɒd.l̩z/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "mode" or "models" show up more?
"models" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,871 in our English list, against #2,357 for "mode". 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 "mode" and "models" 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 "models" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #519,582 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mode" and "models" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mode vs Moog". 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 #519,582 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