modérésvsmodernesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,817
“modérés” frequency rank
#3,547
“modernes” frequency rank
16364
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modérés modernes
Definition Masculin pluriel de modéré. Pluriel de moderne.

Where the eye mixes modérés and modernes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. modérés runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against modernes's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
modérés
8 ch
modernes

Look-alike desk: modérés vs modernes

A purely visual mix-up. modérés (\mɔ.de.ʁe\) and modernes (\mɔ.dɛʁn\) 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 16364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modérés is recorded at frequency rank #12,817, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.de.ʁe\. modernes is at rank #3,547, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.dɛʁn\.

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 16364, this pair ranks #388,155 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of modérés vs modernes

Shared letters: dmors. Private to "modérés": é. Private to "modernes": en.

"modérés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "modernes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modernesmdoernes · mmodernes · moddernes · modenres · moderens · moderness · modernnes · modernse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "modérés" for "modernes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\mɔ.de.ʁe\ versus \mɔ.dɛʁn\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "modérés" or "modernes"?
"modernes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,547 in our French list, against #12,817 for "modérés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "modérés" and "modernes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "modérés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modernes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #388,155 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modérés" and "modernes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Modène vs modérés". 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 #388,155 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