mañasvsmaníConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#31,436
“mañas” frequency rank
#18,309
“maní” frequency rank
49745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mañas maní
Definition Forma del plural de maña. (Arachis hypogaea) Planta anual de la familia de las fabáceas, orginaria de América. Tiene hojas pinnadas con dos pares de folíolos oblongos, y flores amarillas con un cáliz tubular, cuyo ovario se desplaza al ser fertilizadas hasta enterrarse en el suelo. Los frutos son vainas que crecen y maduran bajo tierra.

Where the eye mixes mañas and maní

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
mañas
4 ch
maní

Why the eye confuses mañas with maní

A purely visual mix-up. mañas ([ˈmaɲas]) and maní ([maˈni]) 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 49745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mañas is recorded at frequency rank #31,436, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɲas]. maní is at rank #18,309, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maˈni].

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 49745, this pair ranks #107,056 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mañas vs maní

Shared letters: am. Private to "mañas": . Private to "maní": .

"mañas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "maní" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mañas" and "maní" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaɲas] versus [maˈni]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mañas" or "maní"?
"maní" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,309 in our Spanish list, against #31,436 for "mañas". 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 "mañas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "maní" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #107,056 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mañas" and "maní" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "makes vs mañas". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #107,056 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