maníasvsmantisWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: manías is a verb, mantis is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“manías” is a verb and “mantis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,849
“manías” frequency rank
#48,524
“mantis” frequency rank
93373
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature manías mantis
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de manir. (orden Mantodea) Cualquiera de unas 2.200 especies de insectos neópteros, de distribución cosmopolita, caracterizados por un cuerpo elongado, especialmente el protórax, y dos patas delanteras modificadas, dotadas de garfios con los que sujetan a su presa. Son predadores voraces, empleando su coloración críptica para acechar; la posición del cuerpo y las patas delanteras al acecho recuerda a la adoptada para rezar en algunas religiones, lo que motiva su nombre vernáculo.

Where the eye mixes manías and mantis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. manías (CVCVVC) and mantis (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
manías
6 ch
mantis

Why the eye confuses manías with mantis

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: manías is [maˈnias] while mantis is [ˈmãn̪t̪is]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93373, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

manías is recorded at frequency rank #44,849, classified as averb, pronounced [maˈnias]. mantis is at rank #48,524, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmãn̪t̪is].

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 93373, this pair ranks #1,176 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of manías vs mantis

Shared letters: amns. Private to "manías": í. Private to "mantis": it.

"manías" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "mantis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mantis ← amntis · manits · manntis · mantiss · mantsi · manttis · matnis · mmantis

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "manías" for "mantis" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "manías" is a verb and "mantis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "manías" or "mantis"?
"manías" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,849 in our Spanish list, against #48,524 for "mantis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "manías" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mantis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,176 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "manías" and "mantis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mantis vs montas". 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 #1,176 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