machuvsmanuWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“machu” and “manu” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,558
“machu” frequency rank
#15,894
“manu” frequency rank
46452
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machu manu
Definition Viejo, anciano Ave, pájaro.

Where the eye mixes machu and manu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
machu
4 ch
manu

Why the eye confuses machu with manu

A purely visual mix-up. machu ([ˈma.ʧu]) and manu ([ˈma.nu]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

machu is recorded at frequency rank #30,558, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈma.ʧu]. manu is at rank #15,894, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈma.nu].

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 46452, this pair ranks #125,632 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of machu vs manu

Shared letters: amu. Private to "machu": ch. Private to "manu": n.

"machu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "manu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machuamchu · macchu · machhu · macuh · mahcu · mcahu · mmachu
  • manuamnu · mannu · maun · mmanu · mnau

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "machu" for "manu" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈma.ʧu] versus [ˈma.nu]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "machu" or "manu"?
"manu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,894 in our Spanish list, against #30,558 for "machu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "machu" and "manu" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "machu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "manu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #125,632 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "machu" and "manu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "machu vs math". 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 #125,632 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list