mandovsmodoTell them apart

Quick tell: mando is a verb, modo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mando” is a verb and “modo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,551
“mando” frequency rank
#606
“modo” frequency rank
6157
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mando modo
Definition primeira pessoa do singular do presente indicativo do verbo mandar maneira, jeito

Where the eye mixes mando and modo

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

5 ch
mando
4 ch
modo

Look-alike desk: mando vs modo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mando is /ˈmɐ̃.du/ while modo is /ˈmɔ.du/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mando is recorded at frequency rank #5,551, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈmɐ̃.du/. modo is at rank #606, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔ.du/.

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 6157, this pair ranks #68,331 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mando vs modo

Shared letters: dmo. Private to "mando": an. Private to "modo": -.

"mando" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "modo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mandoamndo · madno · manddo · manndo · manod · mmando · mnado
  • modomdoo · mmodo · moddo · omdo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mando" and "modo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mando" is a verb and "modo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mando" or "modo"?
"modo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #606 in our Portuguese list, against #5,551 for "mando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mando" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,331 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mando" and "modo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malho vs mando". 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 #68,331 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