mansvsmineWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#11,566
“mans” frequency rank
#971
“mine” frequency rank
12537
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mans mine
Definition third-person singular simple present indicative of man That or those belonging to me.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mans and mine apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
mans
4 ch
mine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

mans and mine form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12537, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mans is recorded at frequency rank #11,566, classified as averb, pronounced /mænz/. mine is at rank #971, tagged as apron, pronounced /maɪ̯n/.

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 12537, this pair ranks #480,973 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

mans#11,566
mine#971

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mans" and "mine" be used interchangeably?
No, "mans" and "mine" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering mans vs mine

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “mans”; for a pronoun, it's “mine”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mans” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list