mandanvsmandarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,562
“mandan” frequency rank
#2,996
“mandar” frequency rank
9558
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mandan mandar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de mandar o de mandarse. Dar órdenes a un subalterno o súbdito.

Where the eye mixes mandan and mandar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
mandan
6 ch
mandar

Look-alike desk: mandan vs mandar

A purely visual mix-up. mandan ([ˈmãn̪d̪ãn]) and mandar ([mãn̪ˈd̪aɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “mandan” becomes r in “mandar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9558, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mandan is recorded at frequency rank #6,562, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmãn̪d̪ãn]. mandar is at rank #2,996, tagged as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈd̪aɾ].

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 9558, this pair ranks #301,568 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mandan vs mandar

Shared letters: admn. Private to "mandan": -. Private to "mandar": r.

"mandan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mandar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mandanamndan · madnan · manadn · mandann · manddan · mandna · manndan · mmandan
  • mandaramndar · madnar · manadr · mandarr · manddar · mandra · manndar · mmandar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mandan" and "mandar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmãn̪d̪ãn] versus [mãn̪ˈd̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mandan" or "mandar" show up more?
"mandar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,996 in our Spanish list, against #6,562 for "mandan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mandan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mandar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #301,568 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mandan" and "mandar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mandan vs mundana". 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 #301,568 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