modevsmortConfusable pair

Which to use

“mode” and “mort” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#585
“mode” frequency rank
#187
“mort” frequency rank
772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mode mort
Definition Manière de voir ou d’agir ; fantaisie. Arrêt définitif des fonctions vitales (assimilation de nutriments, respiration, fonctionnement du système nerveux central).

Where the eye mixes mode and mort

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mode
4 ch
mort

Look-alike desk: mode vs mort

A purely visual mix-up. mode (\mɔd\) and mort (\mɔʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mode is recorded at frequency rank #585, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɔd\. mort is at rank #187, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔʁ\.

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 772, this pair ranks #439,146 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mode vs mort

Shared letters: mo. Private to "mode": de. Private to "mort": rt.

"mode" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modemdoe · mmode · modde · moed · omde
  • mortmmort · morrt · mortt · motr · mrot · omrt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mode" and "mort" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\mɔd\ versus \mɔʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mode" or "mort"?
"mort" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #187 in our French list, against #585 for "mode". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mode" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mort" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #439,146 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mode" and "mort" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mode vs mud". 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 #439,146 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list