Which to use
“mañas” and “mares” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,436
- “mañas” frequency rank
- #10,529
- “mares” frequency rank
- 41965
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mañas | mares |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de maña. | Forma del plural de mar. |
Where the eye mixes mañas and mares
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mañas and mares follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses mañas with mares
A purely visual mix-up. mañas ([ˈmaɲas]) and mares ([ˈmaɾes]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41965, 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]. mares is at rank #10,529, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɾes].
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 41965, this pair ranks #150,802 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mañas vs mares
Shared letters: ams. Private to "mañas": ñ. Private to "mares": er.
"mañas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mares ← amres · maers · maress · marres · marse · mmares · mraes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mañas" and "mares" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mañas" or "mares"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mañas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mares" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #150,802 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mañas" and "mares" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "makes vs mañas". 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 #150,802 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.