modalesvsmolaresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“modales” and “molares” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,166
“modales” frequency rank
#46,673
“molares” frequency rank
61839
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modales molares
Definition 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. Forma del plural de molar¹.

Where the eye mixes modales and molares

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. modales and molares follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
modales
7 ch
molares

Why the eye confuses modales with molares

A purely visual mix-up. modales ([moˈð̞ales]) and molares ([moˈlaɾes]) 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 61839, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modales is recorded at frequency rank #15,166, classified as anoun, pronounced [moˈð̞ales]. molares is at rank #46,673, tagged as anoun, pronounced [moˈlaɾes].

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 61839, this pair ranks #54,085 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of modales vs molares

Shared letters: aelmos. Private to "modales": d. Private to "molares": r.

"modales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "molares" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modalesmdoales · mmodales · moadles · modaels · modaless · modalles · modalse · moddales
  • molaresmloares · mmolares · moalres · molaers · molaress · molarres · molarse · mollares

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "modales" and "molares" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([moˈð̞ales] versus [moˈlaɾes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "modales" or "molares"?
"modales" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,166 in our Spanish list, against #46,673 for "molares". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "modales" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "molares" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,085 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modales" and "molares" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "molares vs Moles". 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 #54,085 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