Which to use
“moa” and “mole” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,173
- “moa” frequency rank
- #38,923
- “mole” frequency rank
- 84096
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | moa | mole |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Une des espèces d'oiseaux terrestres (ratites) géants (jusqu'à trois mètres de haut), incapables de voler, originaires de Nouvelle-Zélande, éteintes après l'arrivée des ancêtres des Maori. | Unité de mesure de quantité de matière du Système international, dont le symbole est mol. Une mole contient autant de particules individuelles qu’il y a d’atomes dans 12 grammes de carbone 12 ; ce nombre est appelé nombre d’Avogadro, et est de l’ordre de 6,022×10²³. |
Where the eye mixes moa and mole
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. moa runs 3 letters (CVV) against mole's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: moa vs mole
A purely visual mix-up. moa (\mɔ.a\) and mole (\mɔl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
moa is recorded at frequency rank #45,173, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.a\. mole is at rank #38,923, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔl\.
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 84096, this pair ranks #13,575 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of moa vs mole
Shared letters: mo. Private to "moa": a. Private to "mole": el.
"moa" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mole ← mloe · mmole · moel · omle
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "moa" for "mole" ever safe?
Frequency check: "moa" vs "mole" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "moa" and "mole" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "moa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,575 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "moa" and "mole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moa vs MWh". 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 #13,575 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.