mobvsmobilWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#25,737
“mob” frequency rank
#41,900
“mobil” frequency rank
67637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mob mobil
Definition Populace anglaise. Mobile.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
mob
5 ch
mobil

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mob is \mɔb\ while mobil is \moˈbiːl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “mob” sits inside “mobil”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mob is recorded at frequency rank #25,737, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɔb\. mobil is at rank #41,900, tagged as anadj, pronounced \moˈbiːl\.

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 67637, this pair ranks #62,539 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mob vs mobil

Shared letters: bmo. Private to "mob": -. Private to "mobil": il.

"mob" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mobil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mobilmboil · mmobil · mobbil · mobill · mobli · moibl · ombil

Frequency comparison

mob#25,737
mobil#41,900

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mob" and "mobil" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mob" is a noun and "mobil" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mob" or "mobil"?
"mob" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,737 in our French list, against #41,900 for "mobil". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mob vs mobil

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mob”; for an adjective, it's “mobil”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mob” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list