manijavsmínimaConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#19,791
“manija” frequency rank
#3,800
“mínima” frequency rank
23591
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature manija mínima
Definition Parte donde se fija la mano para hacer uso de ciertos instrumentos. Forma del femenino de mínimo.

Where the eye mixes manija and mínima

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. manija and mínima follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
manija
6 ch
mínima

Why the eye confuses manija with mínima

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: manija is [maˈnixa] while mínima is [ˈminima]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

manija is recorded at frequency rank #19,791, classified as anoun, pronounced [maˈnixa]. mínima is at rank #3,800, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈminima].

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 23591, this pair ranks #245,061 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of manija vs mínima

Shared letters: aimn. Private to "manija": j. Private to "mínima": í.

"manija" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "mínima" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • manija ← amnija · mainja · maniaj · manijja · manjia · mannija · mmanija · mnaija

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "manija" and "mínima" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "manija" is a noun and "mínima" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "manija" or "mínima" show up more?
"mínima" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,800 in our Spanish list, against #19,791 for "manija". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "manija" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mínima" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #245,061 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "manija" and "mínima" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "manija vs mija". 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 #245,061 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