MannvsmensTell them apart

Which to use

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

#25,039
“Mann” frequency rank
#47,487
“mens” frequency rank
72526
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mann mens
Definition indivíduo adulto do sexo masculino pessoa, humano, homem

Where the eye mixes Mann and mens

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Mann and mens follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
Mann
4 ch
mens

Why the eye confuses Mann with mens

A purely visual mix-up. Mann (/man/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and mens ([ mɛns ]) 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 72526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mann is recorded at frequency rank #25,039, classified as anoun, pronounced /man/ ouvir^(fonte ?). mens is at rank #47,487, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ mɛns ].

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 72526, this pair ranks #3,026 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Mann vs mens

Shared letters: mn. Private to "Mann": a. Private to "mens": es.

"Mann" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mann ← amnn · mmann · mnan
  • mens ← emns · menns · menss · mesn · mmens · mnes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Mann" and "mens" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/man/ ouvir^(fonte ?) versus [ mɛns ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Mann" or "mens"?
"Mann" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,039 in our Portuguese list, against #47,487 for "mens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mann" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #3,026 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mann" and "mens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mens vs messe". 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 #3,026 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