modemvsmodiWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,697
“modem” frequency rank
#45,175
“modi” frequency rank
54872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modem modi
Definition Dispositif qui transforme un signal numérique en un signal, souvent analogique, adapté aux caractéristiques d’une ligne de transmission, et inversement. Pluriel de modus.

Where the eye mixes modem and modi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
modem
4 ch
modi

Visual trap between modem and modi

A purely visual mix-up. modem (\mɔ.dɛm\) and modi (\mɔ.di\) 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 54872, 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\. modi is at rank #45,175, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.di\.

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 54872, this pair ranks #131,115 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of modem vs modi

Shared letters: dmo. Private to "modem": e. Private to "modi": i.

"modem" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "modi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modemmdoem · mmodem · moddem · modemm · modme · moedm · omdem
  • modimdoi · mmodi · moddi · moid · omdi

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "modem" and "modi" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\mɔ.dɛm\ versus \mɔ.di\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "modem" or "modi"?
"modem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,697 in our French list, against #45,175 for "modi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "modem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #131,115 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modem" and "modi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modi 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 #131,115 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