manívsmiConfusable pair

Quick tell: maní is a noun, mi is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“maní” is a noun and “mi” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,309
“maní” frequency rank
#29
“mi” frequency rank
18338
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maní mi
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. Adjetivo posesivo de la primera persona singular; de mí.

Where the eye mixes maní and mi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
maní
2 ch
mi

Look-alike desk: maní vs mi

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maní is [maˈni] while mi is [mi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18338, 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]. mi is at rank #29, tagged as anadj, pronounced [mi].

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 18338, this pair ranks #268,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of maní vs mi

Shared letters: m. Private to "maní": aní. Private to "mi": i.

"maní" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mi" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maní" and "mi" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "maní" is a noun and "mi" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "maní" or "mi" show up more?
"mi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29 in our Spanish list, against #18,309 for "maní". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "maní" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #268,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maní" and "mi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maní vs math". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #268,316 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