mandarvsmoldarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“mandar” and “moldar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,753
“mandar” frequency rank
#19,792
“moldar” frequency rank
21545
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mandar moldar
Definition dar ordens a construir o molde de

Where the eye mixes mandar and moldar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mandar and moldar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
mandar
6 ch
moldar

Visual trap between mandar and moldar

A purely visual mix-up. mandar (/mɐ̃.ˈdaɾ/) and moldar (/moɫ.ˈdaɾ/) 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 21545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mandar is recorded at frequency rank #1,753, classified as averb, pronounced /mɐ̃.ˈdaɾ/. moldar is at rank #19,792, tagged as averb, pronounced /moɫ.ˈdaɾ/.

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 21545, this pair ranks #48,686 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mandar vs moldar

Shared letters: admr. Private to "mandar": n. Private to "moldar": lo.

"mandar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "moldar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mandar ← amndar · madnar · manadr · mandarr · manddar · mandra · manndar · mmandar
  • moldar ← mlodar · mmoldar · modlar · moladr · moldarr · molddar · moldra · molldar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mandar" and "moldar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɐ̃.ˈdaɾ/ versus /moɫ.ˈdaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mandar" or "moldar" show up more?
"mandar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,753 in our Portuguese list, against #19,792 for "moldar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mandar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "moldar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,686 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mandar" and "moldar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moldar vs multar". 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 #48,686 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list