modérervsmodérésConfusable pair

Quick tell: modérer is a verb, modérés is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“modérer” is a verb and “modérés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,678
“modérer” frequency rank
#12,817
“modérés” frequency rank
37495
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modérer modérés
Definition Diminuer ; adoucir ; tempérer ; rendre moins violent ; tenir dans de justes limites. Masculin pluriel de modéré.

Same sound, different letters: modérer vs modérés

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. modérer and modérés follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
modérer
7 ch
modérés

Homophone desk: modérer vs modérés

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: modérer and modérés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \mɔ.de.ʁe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modérer is recorded at frequency rank #24,678, classified as averb, pronounced \mɔ.de.ʁe\. modérés is at rank #12,817, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.de.ʁe\.

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 37495, this pair ranks #262,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of modérer vs modérés

Shared letters: dmoré. Private to "modérer": e. Private to "modérés": s.

"modérer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "modérés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "modérer" and "modérés" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "modérer" is a verb and "modérés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "modérer" or "modérés" show up more?
"modérés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,817 in our French list, against #24,678 for "modérer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

"modérer" and "modérés" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "modérer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modérés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #262,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modérer" and "modérés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Modène vs modérer". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #262,117 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