mantelvsmantosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#30,996
“mantel” frequency rank
#46,658
“mantos” frequency rank
77654
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mantel mantos
Definition Pieza de tela u otro material que se pone sobre la mesa y debajo de los platos y cubiertos. Forma del plural de manto.

Where the eye mixes mantel and mantos

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

6 ch
mantel
6 ch
mantos

Visual trap between mantel and mantos

A purely visual mix-up. mantel ([mãn̪ˈt̪el]) and mantos ([ˈmãn̪t̪os]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mantel is recorded at frequency rank #30,996, classified as anoun, pronounced [mãn̪ˈt̪el]. mantos is at rank #46,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmãn̪t̪os].

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 77654, this pair ranks #15,666 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mantel vs mantos

Shared letters: amnt. Private to "mantel": el. Private to "mantos": os.

"mantel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mantos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mantel ← amntel · manetl · manntel · mantell · mantle · manttel · matnel · mmantel
  • mantos ← amntos · manntos · manots · mantoss · mantso · manttos · matnos · mmantos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mantel" and "mantos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([mãn̪ˈt̪el] versus [ˈmãn̪t̪os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mantel" or "mantos"?
"mantel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,996 in our Spanish list, against #46,658 for "mantos". 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 "mantel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mantos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #15,666 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mantel" and "mantos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mantis vs mantos". 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 #15,666 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