Which to use
“mantel” and “mástil” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,996
- “mantel” frequency rank
- #27,317
- “mástil” frequency rank
- 58313
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mantel | mástil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pieza de tela u otro material que se pone sobre la mesa y debajo de los platos y cubiertos. | Vara larga y robusta, colocada verticalmente sobre la cubierta, a la que se fija el aparejo de las velas de una embarcación. |
Where the eye mixes mantel and mástil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mantel and mástil follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between mantel and mástil
A purely visual mix-up. mantel ([mãn̪ˈt̪el]) and mástil ([ˈmast̪il]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58313, 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]. mástil is at rank #27,317, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmast̪il].
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 58313, this pair ranks #66,918 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mantel vs mástil
Shared letters: lmt. Private to "mantel": aen. Private to "mástil": isá.
"mantel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mástil" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mantel ← amntel · manetl · manntel · mantell · mantle · manttel · matnel · mmantel
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mantel" and "mástil" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mantel" or "mástil" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "mástil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,918 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mantel" and "mástil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mantel vs mantis". 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 #66,918 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.