uavsuiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ua is a num, ui is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ua” is a num and “ui” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,965
“ua” frequency rank
#13,713
“ui” frequency rank
27678
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ua ui
Definition zwei Ausdruck des Bestaunens

Where the eye mixes ua and ui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
ua
2 ch
ui

Visual trap between ua and ui

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ua is [ˈua] while ui is [ʊɪ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “ua” becomes i in “ui”, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27678, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ua is recorded at frequency rank #13,965, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈua]. ui is at rank #13,713, tagged as anintj, pronounced [ʊɪ̯].

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 27678, this pair ranks #1,797,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ua vs ui

Shared letters: u. Private to "ua": a. Private to "ui": i.

"ua" · 2 letters · shape VV  ·  "ui" · 2 letters · shape VV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ua" for "ui" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ua" is a num and "ui" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ua" vs "ui" - which ranks higher?
"ui" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,713 in our German list, against #13,965 for "ua". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "ua" and "ui" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,797,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ua" and "ui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ua vs uch". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,797,755 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list