Manuel vs. Manual – Which Spelling Is Correct?

Some words in the English language have similar spellings that can be confused. Such is the case of “manual” and “Manuel”. Have you ever encountered those words before? Would you like to know which the correct spelling is? Well, read on as all answers are just a few paragraphs away.

Manuel vs. Manual – Which Spelling Is Correct?

“Manual” is an adjective and a noun. As an adjective, it means something is handmade or operated with the hands. As a noun, it means a book of instructions. On the other hand, “Manuel” is a Spanish name but doesn’t exist as a word in the English language.

Since “manual” is a correct word in the English language that can be used as a noun or an adjective and “Manuel” is a Spanish name (with the first letter in upper case “Manuel) but not a correct English word, they are not synonyms and can’t be exchanged.

Manuel

“Manuel” is a Spanish name. If you see it written “Manuel” in lower cases, it is a spelling mistake, not a correct word in the English language. The closest word is “manual” which can mean a book of instructions or that something is handmade or hand operated.

When you are asked “is Manuel a word? Your answer should be that it is not. Although it is a Spanish name, it is not a correct word in the English language when you see it spelled in lower cases as in “Manuel”.

Checking the Cambridge Dictionary, we can confirm this since “Manuel” is not found in this dictionary’s vast database.

Let’s see some wrong examples in which “Manuel” is used as “manual”. These are wrong examples you shouldn’t follow except when the word is spelled in upper case and used as a name:

1. My car is Manuel, which means I have to do the gears all the time; it’s so annoying.
2. The Manuel says we should press the red button three times and wait for the beep.
3. Here comes Manuel, he’s the best in the class and close to winning the spelling contest.
4. Manuel is so good at playing football he’s getting offers from major teams in the country.
5. If this is a Manuel machine, then why don’t you have the gloves on?

Manual

“Manual” is a word that can be used as a noun and as an adjective. When used as a noun, “manual” means a book of instructions to operate something. When used as an adjective, on the other hand, “manual” means that something is handmade or operated by hand.

One of the main uses of the word “manual” is as a book of instructions to operate something. This is especially common in a military environment. On the other hand, “manual” is commonly used to differentiate cars with manual gears from automatics.

We checked the Cambridge Dictionary to understand the meaning of “manual” further and it provided the same two definitions given above: a book of instructions or a handmade or hand-operated machine.

Let’s see how to use “manual” in a sentence through some examples:

1. Is this car manual? I can’t drive an automatic!
2. Why are you asking me if the red button is the one to press? Haven’t you read the manual?
3. The machine comes with an instructions manual that explains all functions very clearly.
4. Is the crafting of this jewelry a manual process?
5. The manual was so clear and succinct I didn’t even have to look at tutorials on YouTube.
6. She came up with an automated version of the old manual procedure and now we’re working much faster.

Which Is Used the Most?

No tool is stronger than the Google Ngram Viewer to check on a word’s popularity. Therefore, we entered “manual” and “Manuel” and found that, while the popularity of “manual” fluctuated in the past century, “Manuel” remained close to zero since the 1900s. This is clear proof that when spelled in lower cases, it is not an English language word but a misspelling.

Final Thoughts

While “manual” is a correct English language word that can be an adjective or a noun meaning that something is handmade or hand operated or an instruction book, “Manuel” spelled in lower cases isn’t a correct English word and should be avoided. Finally, “Manuel” is also a Spanish name.