modovsmudaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#606
“modo” frequency rank
#2,431
“muda” frequency rank
3037
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modo muda
Definition maneira, jeito mulher que não fala

Where the eye mixes modo and muda

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

4 ch
modo
4 ch
muda

Look-alike desk: modo vs muda

A purely visual mix-up. modo (/ˈmɔ.du/) and muda (/ˈmu.dɐ/) 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 3037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modo is recorded at frequency rank #606, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔ.du/. muda is at rank #2,431, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmu.dɐ/.

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 3037, this pair ranks #72,182 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of modo vs muda

Shared letters: dm. Private to "modo": o. Private to "muda": au.

"modo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "muda" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modomdoo · mmodo · moddo · omdo
  • mudamdua · mmuda · muad · mudda · umda

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "modo" for "muda" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɔ.du/ versus /ˈmu.dɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "modo" or "muda"?
"modo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #606 in our Portuguese list, against #2,431 for "muda". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "modo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "muda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,182 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modo" and "muda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs muda". 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 #72,182 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