mannvsmeanWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#10,725
“mann” frequency rank
#274
“mean” frequency rank
10999
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mann mean
Definition A fairy chess piece that can move to any adjacent square. It moves like a king but is not a royal piece. To intend.

Letter map: mann vs mean

Shared letters muted; letters that set mann and mean apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
mann
4 ch
mean

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mann is anoun and meanaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10999, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mann is recorded at frequency rank #10,725, classified as anoun. mean is at rank #274, tagged as averb, pronounced /miːn/.

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 10999, this pair ranks #489,410 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mann vs mean

Shared letters: amn. Private to "mann": -. Private to "mean": e.

"mann" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mean" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mannamnn · mmann · mnan
  • meaneman · maen · meann · mmean

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mann" and "mean" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mann" is a noun and "mean" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mann" or "mean"?
"mean" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #274 in our English list, against #10,725 for "mann". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "mann" and "mean". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mann" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mean" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #489,410 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mann" and "mean" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mann vs Marne". 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