modavsmodalWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#1,946
“moda” frequency rank
#49,802
“modal” frequency rank
51748
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature moda modal
Definition Estilo popular en el vestir, actuar, pensar etc. Que comprende o incluye modo o determinación particular.

Where the eye mixes moda and modal

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

4 ch
moda
5 ch
modal

Look-alike desk: moda vs modal

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: moda is [ˈmoð̞a] while modal is [moˈð̞al]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “moda” sits inside “modal”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51748, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

moda is recorded at frequency rank #1,946, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmoð̞a]. modal is at rank #49,802, tagged as anadj, pronounced [moˈð̞al].

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 51748, this pair ranks #96,270 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of moda vs modal

Shared letters: admo. Private to "moda": -. Private to "modal": l.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modamdoa · mmoda · moad · modda · omda
  • modalmdoal · mmodal · moadl · modall · moddal · modla · omdal

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "moda" for "modal" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "moda" is a noun and "modal" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "moda" or "modal" show up more?
"moda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,946 in our Spanish list, against #49,802 for "modal". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "moda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modal" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #96,270 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "moda" and "modal" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modal vs morral". 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 #96,270 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list