mabvsmansWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#47,175
“mab” frequency rank
#11,566
“mans” frequency rank
58741
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mab mans
Definition A slattern. third-person singular simple present indicative of man

Letter map: mab vs mans

Shared letters muted; letters that set mab and mans apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
mab
4 ch
mans

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mab is anoun and mansaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58741, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mab is recorded at frequency rank #47,175, classified as anoun. mans is at rank #11,566, tagged as averb, pronounced /mænz/.

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 58741, this pair ranks #110,613 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mab vs mans

Shared letters: am. Private to "mab": b. Private to "mans": ns.

"mab" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mansamns · manns · manss · masn · mmans · mnas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mab" and "mans" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mab" is a noun and "mans" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mab" or "mans"?
"mans" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,566 in our English list, against #47,175 for "mab". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "mab" and "mans". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #110,613 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mab" and "mans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mab vs MPAA". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list