Which to use
“modulate” is a verb and “modulator” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,916
- “modulate” frequency rank
- #40,345
- “modulator” frequency rank
- 80261
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | modulate | modulator |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To regulate, adjust or adapt | A person who modulates. |
Letter map: modulate vs modulator
Shared letters muted; letters that set modulate and modulator apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Part-of-speech tell for modulate / modulator
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: modulate is averb and modulatoranoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
modulate is recorded at frequency rank #39,916, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈmɒd͡ʒɪleɪt/. modulator is at rank #40,345, tagged as anoun.
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 80261, this pair ranks #20,187 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of modulate vs modulator
Shared letters: adlmotu. Private to "modulate": e. Private to "modulator": r.
"modulate" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "modulator" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "modulate" and "modulator" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "modulate" vs "modulator" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've compared "modulate" and "modulator". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "modulate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "modulator" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,187 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "modulate" and "modulator" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modulation vs modulator". 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 #20,187 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.