maneiravsmentiraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#409
“maneira” frequency rank
#2,243
“mentira” frequency rank
2652
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maneira mentira
Definition modo, jeito como algo é feito declaração feita por alguém que acredita ou suspeita que ela seja falsa, na expectativa de que os ouvintes ou leitores possam acreditar nela

Where the eye mixes maneira and mentira

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. maneira (CVCVVCV) and mentira (CVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
maneira
7 ch
mentira

Why the eye confuses maneira with mentira

A purely visual mix-up. maneira (/mɐ.ˈnɐj.ɾɐ/) and mentira (/mẽ.ˈti.ɾɐ/) 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 2652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maneira is recorded at frequency rank #409, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈnɐj.ɾɐ/. mentira is at rank #2,243, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mẽ.ˈti.ɾɐ/.

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 2652, this pair ranks #72,665 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of maneira vs mentira

Shared letters: aeimnr. Private to "maneira": -. Private to "mentira": t.

"maneira" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "mentira" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maneira ← amneira · maenira · maneiar · maneirra · maneria · maniera · manneira · mmaneira
  • mentira ← emntira · menitra · menntira · mentiar · mentirra · mentria · menttira · metnira

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "maneira" for "mentira" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/mɐ.ˈnɐj.ɾɐ/ versus /mẽ.ˈti.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "maneira" vs "mentira" - which ranks higher?
"maneira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #409 in our Portuguese list, against #2,243 for "mentira". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "maneira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mentira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,665 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maneira" and "mentira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "macieira vs maneira". 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 #72,665 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