modesvsmoyeuTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,588
“modes” frequency rank
#46,905
“moyeu” frequency rank
51493
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modes moyeu
Definition Ensemble de parure que l’on rajoute à un vêtement, dentelles, plumes, etc. colifichet. Autrefois, l‘apanage des modistes. Milieu de la roue (la roue peut être située sur une voiture, un vélo, etc.) ; gros morceau de bois tourné ou de métal, où s’emboîtent les rais, et dans le creux duquel entre l’essieu.

Where the eye mixes modes and moyeu

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

5 ch
modes
5 ch
moyeu

Why the eye confuses modes with moyeu

A purely visual mix-up. modes (\mɔd\) and moyeu (\mwa.jø\) 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 51493, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modes is recorded at frequency rank #4,588, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɔd\. moyeu is at rank #46,905, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mwa.jø\.

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 51493, this pair ranks #154,574 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of modes vs moyeu

Shared letters: emo. Private to "modes": ds. Private to "moyeu": uy.

"modes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "moyeu" · 5 letters · shape CVVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modesmdoes · mmodes · moddes · modess · modse · moeds · omdes
  • moyeummoyeu · moeyu · moyue · moyyeu · myoeu · omyeu

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "modes" and "moyeu" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɔd\ versus \mwa.jø\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "modes" or "moyeu"?
"modes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,588 in our French list, against #46,905 for "moyeu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "modes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "moyeu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #154,574 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modes" and "moyeu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moulu vs moyeu". 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 #154,574 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