molvsmouConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#28,654
“mol” frequency rank
#8,739
“mou” frequency rank
37393
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mol mou
Definition Masculin singulier de mou devant une voyelle ou un h muet, et plus rarement devant une consonne. Qui cède facilement au toucher, qui reçoit facilement l’impression des autres corps.

Where the eye mixes mol and mou

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
mol
3 ch
mou

Look-alike desk: mol vs mou

A purely visual mix-up. mol (\mɔl\) and mou (\mu\) 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 a single letter - l in “mol” becomes u in “mou”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mol is recorded at frequency rank #28,654, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɔl\. mou is at rank #8,739, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mu\.

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 37393, this pair ranks #262,798 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mol vs mou

Shared letters: mo. Private to "mol": l. Private to "mou": u.

"mol" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mou" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mol" and "mou" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɔl\ versus \mu\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mol" or "mou"?
"mou" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,739 in our French list, against #28,654 for "mol". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mol" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #262,798 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mol" and "mou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mol vs MWh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #262,798 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