manténvsmantoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: mantén is a verb, manto is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mantén” is a verb and “manto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,856
“mantén” frequency rank
#10,883
“manto” frequency rank
34739
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mantén manto
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del imperativo afirmativo de mantener. Prenda de vestir parecido a una capa.

Where the eye mixes mantén and manto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
mantén
5 ch
manto

Why the eye confuses mantén with manto

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mantén is [mãn̪ˈt̪ẽn] while manto is [ˈmãn̪t̪o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34739, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mantén is recorded at frequency rank #23,856, classified as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈt̪ẽn]. manto is at rank #10,883, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmãn̪t̪o].

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 34739, this pair ranks #189,817 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mantén vs manto

Shared letters: amnt. Private to "mantén": é. Private to "manto": o.

"mantén" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "manto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mantoamnto · mannto · manot · mantto · matno · mmanto · mnato

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mantén" and "manto" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mantén" is a verb and "manto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mantén" or "manto"?
"manto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,883 in our Spanish list, against #23,856 for "mantén". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "mantén" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "manto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #189,817 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mantén" and "manto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mantén 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 #189,817 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