Which to use
“modales” is a noun and “mortales” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,166
- “modales” frequency rank
- #7,600
- “mortales” frequency rank
- 22766
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | modales | mortales |
|---|---|---|
| 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 mortal. |
Where the eye mixes modales and mortales
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. modales runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against mortales's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses modales with mortales
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: modales is [moˈð̞ales] while mortales is [moɾˈt̪ales]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22766, 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]. mortales is at rank #7,600, tagged as anadj, pronounced [moɾˈt̪ales].
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 22766, this pair ranks #248,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of modales vs mortales
Shared letters: aelmos. Private to "modales": d. Private to "mortales": rt.
"modales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "mortales" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "modales" for "mortales" ever safe?
Frequency check: "modales" vs "mortales" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "modales" and "mortales" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "modales" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mortales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "modales" and "mortales" 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 #248,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.