Which to use
“mode” and “mois” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #585
- “mode” frequency rank
- #184
- “mois” frequency rank
- 769
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mode | mois |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Manière de voir ou d’agir ; fantaisie. | Chacune des douze parties de l’année, dont chacune contient trente ou trente et un jours, excepté la seconde (février), qui est de vingt-huit jours dans les années ordinaires, et de vingt-neuf dans les années bissextiles. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mode and mois apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
mode and mois form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 769, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mode is recorded at frequency rank #585, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɔd\. mois is at rank #184, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mwa\.
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 769, this pair ranks #439,153 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mode" and "mois" be used interchangeably?
Remembering mode vs mois
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mode” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable