molevsMosesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mole is a noun, Moses is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mole” is a noun and “Moses” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,923
“mole” frequency rank
#32,490
“Moses” frequency rank
71413
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mole Moses
Definition Unité de mesure de quantité de matière du Système international, dont le symbole est mol. Une mole contient autant de particules individuelles qu’il y a d’atomes dans 12 grammes de carbone 12 ; ce nombre est appelé nombre d’Avogadro, et est de l’ordre de 6,022×10²³. Moïse (prophète).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mole and Moses apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
mole
5 ch
Moses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mole is \mɔl\ while Moses is \məʊ.zɪz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mole is recorded at frequency rank #38,923, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɔl\. Moses is at rank #32,490, tagged as aname, pronounced \məʊ.zɪz\.

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 71413, this pair ranks #47,637 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mole vs Moses

Shared letters: emo. Private to "mole": l. Private to "Moses": s.

"mole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Moses" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • molemloe · mmole · moel · omle
  • Mosesmmoses · moess · mosess · mosse · mosses · msoes · omses

Frequency comparison

mole#38,923
Moses#32,490

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mole" and "Moses" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mole" is a noun and "Moses" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mole" or "Moses"?
"Moses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,490 in our French list, against #38,923 for "mole". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mole vs Moses

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mole”; for a name, it's “Moses”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mole” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list