mansvsmanuWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,698
“mans” frequency rank
#15,894
“manu” frequency rank
59592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mans manu
Definition Forma del plural de mà. Ave, pájaro.

Where the eye mixes mans and manu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mans (CVCC) and manu (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
mans
4 ch
manu

Why the eye confuses mans with manu

A purely visual mix-up. mans ([ˈmans]) and manu ([ˈma.nu]) 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 - s in “mans” becomes u in “manu”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mans is recorded at frequency rank #43,698, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmans]. manu is at rank #15,894, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈma.nu].

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 59592, this pair ranks #62,043 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mans vs manu

Shared letters: amn. Private to "mans": s. Private to "manu": u.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mans ← amns · manns · manss · masn · mmans · mnas
  • manu ← amnu · mannu · maun · mmanu · mnau

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mans" for "manu" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmans] versus [ˈma.nu]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mans" or "manu" show up more?
"manu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,894 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.

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 "mans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "manu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,043 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mans" and "manu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "makes vs mans". 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 #62,043 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