Which to use
“metales” and “modales” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,879
- “metales” frequency rank
- #15,166
- “modales” frequency rank
- 23045
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | metales | modales |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de metal. | Acciones externas de cada persona, con que se hace reparar y se singulariza entre las demás, dando a conocer su buena o mala educación. Antes era sustantivo ambiguo. |
Where the eye mixes metales and modales
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. metales and modales follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses metales with modales
A purely visual mix-up. metales ([meˈt̪ales]) and modales ([moˈð̞ales]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
metales is recorded at frequency rank #7,879, classified as anoun, pronounced [meˈt̪ales]. modales is at rank #15,166, tagged as anoun, pronounced [moˈð̞ales].
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 23045, this pair ranks #247,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of metales vs modales
Shared letters: aelms. Private to "metales": t. Private to "modales": do.
"metales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "modales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "metales" for "modales" ever safe?
Which is more common, "metales" or "modales"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "metales" and "modales" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "metales" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "modales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "metales" and "modales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modal vs modales". 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 #247,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.