manovsmarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#342
“mano” frequency rank
#674
“mar” frequency rank
1016
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mano mar
Definition Extremidad prensil y articulada en el extremo distal del brazo de los antropoides. Cuerpo de agua salada que rodea los continentes de la Tierra.

Where the eye mixes mano and mar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mano
3 ch
mar

Visual trap between mano and mar

A purely visual mix-up. mano ([ˈmano]) and mar ([ˈmaɾ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mano is recorded at frequency rank #342, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmano]. mar is at rank #674, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɾ].

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 1016, this pair ranks #322,681 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mano vs mar

Shared letters: am. Private to "mano": no. Private to "mar": r.

"mano" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mar" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • manoamno · manno · maon · mmano · mnao

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mano" and "mar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmano] versus [ˈmaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mano" vs "mar" - which ranks higher?
"mano" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #342 in our Spanish list, against #674 for "mar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "mano" and "mar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mano" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #322,681 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mano" and "mar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mar vs mur". 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 #322,681 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