uhvsuiWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“uh” and “ui” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,767
“uh” frequency rank
#13,713
“ui” frequency rank
25480
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature uh ui
Definition Ausruf des Widerwillens, des Erschreckens Ausdruck des Bestaunens

Where the eye mixes uh and ui

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

2 ch
uh
2 ch
ui

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. uh ([uː]) and ui ([ʊɪ̯]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - h in “uh” becomes i in “ui”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25480, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uh is recorded at frequency rank #11,767, classified as anintj, pronounced [uː]. 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 25480, this pair ranks #1,832,636 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of uh vs ui

Shared letters: u. Private to "uh": h. Private to "ui": i.

"uh" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "ui" · 2 letters · shape VV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "uh" and "ui" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([uː] versus [ʊɪ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "uh" or "ui"?
"uh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,767 in our German list, against #13,713 for "ui". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list