moldevsmolheWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,390
“molde” frequency rank
#32,269
“molhe” frequency rank
50659
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature molde molhe
Definition modelo escavado, próprio para reproduzir uma escultura através do enchimento com metal ou vidro fundido, gesso ou cimento; forma cais onde se pode atracar uma embarcação

Where the eye mixes molde and molhe

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

5 ch
molde
5 ch
molhe

Visual trap between molde and molhe

A purely visual mix-up. molde (/ˈmɔɫ.dɨ/) and molhe (/ˈmɔ.ʎɨ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “molde” becomes h in “molhe”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

molde is recorded at frequency rank #18,390, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔɫ.dɨ/. molhe is at rank #32,269, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔ.ʎɨ/.

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 50659, this pair ranks #14,293 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of molde vs molhe

Shared letters: elmo. Private to "molde": d. Private to "molhe": h.

"molde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "molhe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • molde ← mlode · mmolde · moldde · moled · mollde · omlde
  • molhe ← mlohe · mmolhe · mohle · moleh · molhhe · mollhe · omlhe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "molde" for "molhe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɔɫ.dɨ/ versus /ˈmɔ.ʎɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "molde" or "molhe" show up more?
"molde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,390 in our Portuguese list, against #32,269 for "molhe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "molde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "molhe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,293 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "molde" and "molhe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malho vs molhe". 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 #14,293 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