Moles vs mote, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Moles” is a name and “mote” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,873
“Moles” frequency rank: #27,313
“mote” frequency rank: 72186
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Moles	mote
Definition	Apellido.	Sobrenombre que se le da a una persona, ya sea de forma despectiva o familiar, que deriva de una cualidad (atributo o defecto) física o psíquica, o una circunstancia.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Moles and mote apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

Moles

4 ch

mote

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Moles is [ˈmoles] while mote is [ˈmot̪e]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72186, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Moles is recorded at frequency rank #44,873, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈmoles]. mote is at rank #27,313, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmot̪e].

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 72186, this pair ranks #25,909 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Moles vs mote

Shared letters: emo. Private to "Moles": ls. Private to "mote": t.

"Moles" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mote" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

Moles ← mloes · mmoles · moels · moless · molles · molse · omles
mote ← mmote · moet · motte · mtoe · omte

Frequency comparison

Moles#44,873

mote#27,313

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Moles" and "mote" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Moles" is a name and "mote" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Moles" or "mote"?

"mote" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,313 in our Spanish list, against #44,873 for "Moles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Moles vs mote

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Moles”; for a noun, it's “mote”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Moles” entry
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