MelovsmodoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,570
“Melo” frequency rank
#606
“modo” frequency rank
5176
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Melo modo
Definition sobrenome maneira, jeito

Where the eye mixes Melo and modo

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

4 ch
Melo
4 ch
modo

Look-alike desk: Melo vs modo

A purely visual mix-up. Melo (/ˈmɛ.lu/) and modo (/ˈmɔ.du/) 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 5176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Melo is recorded at frequency rank #4,570, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛ.lu/. 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 5176, this pair ranks #69,519 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Melo vs modo

Shared letters: mo. Private to "Melo": el. Private to "modo": d.

"Melo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "modo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Meloemlo · mello · meol · mleo · mmelo
  • modomdoo · mmodo · moddo · omdo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Melo" and "modo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɛ.lu/ versus /ˈmɔ.du/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Melo" vs "modo" - which ranks higher?
"modo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #606 in our Portuguese list, against #4,570 for "Melo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Melo" 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 #69,519 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Melo" and "modo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Melo vs muso". 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 #69,519 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