Which to use
“modem” is a noun and “modern” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,697
- “modem” frequency rank
- #21,694
- “modern” frequency rank
- 31391
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | modem | modern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dispositif qui transforme un signal numérique en un signal, souvent analogique, adapté aux caractéristiques d’une ligne de transmission, et inversement. | Moderne. |
Where the eye mixes modem and modern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses modem with modern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: modem is \mɔ.dɛm\ while modern is \mɔ.ˈdern\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31391, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
modem is recorded at frequency rank #9,697, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.dɛm\. modern is at rank #21,694, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.ˈdern\.
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 31391, this pair ranks #304,084 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of modem vs modern
Shared letters: demo. Private to "modem": -. Private to "modern": nr.
"modem" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "modern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "modem" for "modern" ever safe?
Frequency check: "modem" vs "modern" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "modem" and "modern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "modem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "modern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #304,084 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "modem" and "modern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modern vs moser". 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 #304,084 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.