mandarvsmanterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“mandar” and “manter” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,753
“mandar” frequency rank
#650
“manter” frequency rank
2403
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mandar manter
Definition dar ordens a sustentar

Where the eye mixes mandar and manter

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

6 ch
mandar
6 ch
manter

Look-alike desk: mandar vs manter

A purely visual mix-up. mandar (/mɐ̃.ˈdaɾ/) and manter (/mɐ̃.ˈteɾ/) 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 2403, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mandar is recorded at frequency rank #1,753, classified as averb, pronounced /mɐ̃.ˈdaɾ/. manter is at rank #650, tagged as averb, pronounced /mɐ̃.ˈteɾ/.

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 2403, this pair ranks #72,998 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mandar vs manter

Shared letters: amnr. Private to "mandar": d. Private to "manter": et.

"mandar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "manter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mandaramndar · madnar · manadr · mandarr · manddar · mandra · manndar · mmandar
  • manteramnter · manetr · mannter · manterr · mantre · mantter · matner · mmanter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mandar" and "manter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɐ̃.ˈdaɾ/ versus /mɐ̃.ˈteɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mandar" vs "manter" - which ranks higher?
"manter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #650 in our Portuguese list, against #1,753 for "mandar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mandar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "manter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,998 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mandar" and "manter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mandar vs manhas". 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 #72,998 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list