manívsmansWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,309
“maní” frequency rank
#43,698
“mans” frequency rank
62007
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maní mans
Definition (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. Forma del plural de mà.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maní and mans apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
maní
4 ch
mans

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. maní ([maˈni]) and mans ([ˈmans]) 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 - í in “maní” becomes s in “mans”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maní is recorded at frequency rank #18,309, classified as anoun, pronounced [maˈni]. mans is at rank #43,698, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmans].

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 62007, this pair ranks #53,514 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maní vs mans

Shared letters: amn. Private to "maní": í. Private to "mans": s.

"maní" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mansamns · manns · manss · masn · mmans · mnas

Frequency comparison

maní#18,309
mans#43,698

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maní" and "mans" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maˈni] versus [ˈmans]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maní" or "mans"?
"maní" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,309 in our Spanish list, against #43,698 for "mans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maní vs mans

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maní” 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