modivsmodusTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,175
“modi” frequency rank
#34,195
“modus” frequency rank
79370
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modi modus
Definition Pluriel de modus. Mode.

Where the eye mixes modi and modus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. modi runs 4 letters (CVCV) against modus's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
modi
5 ch
modus

Why the eye confuses modi with modus

A purely visual mix-up. modi (\mɔ.di\) and modus (\mɔ.dys\) 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 79370, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modi is recorded at frequency rank #45,175, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.di\. modus is at rank #34,195, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.dys\.

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 79370, this pair ranks #23,473 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of modi vs modus

Shared letters: dmo. Private to "modi": i. Private to "modus": su.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modi ← mdoi · mmodi · moddi · moid · omdi
  • modus ← mdous · mmodus · moddus · modsu · moduss · mouds · omdus

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "modi" and "modus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\mɔ.di\ versus \mɔ.dys\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "modi" vs "modus" - which ranks higher?
"modus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,195 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "modi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #23,473 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modi" and "modus" 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 #23,473 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