Which to use
“Uhr” is a noun and “ums” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #200
- “Uhr” frequency rank
- #2,417
- “ums” frequency rank
- 2617
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Uhr | ums |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument zur Messung der Zeit, Chronometer | Zusammenfluss von Präposition und bestimmten Artikel (Akkusativ Neutrum): um das |
Where the eye mixes Uhr and ums
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Uhr vs ums
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Uhr is [uːɐ̯] while ums is [ʊms]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2617, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Uhr is recorded at frequency rank #200, classified as anoun, pronounced [uːɐ̯]. ums is at rank #2,417, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [ʊms].
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 2617, this pair ranks #2,001,951 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Uhr vs ums
Shared letters: u. Private to "Uhr": hr. Private to "ums": ms.
"Uhr" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ums" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Uhr" and "ums" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Uhr" or "ums" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Uhr" and "ums" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Uhr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ums" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,001,951 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Uhr" and "ums" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "uch vs ums". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,001,951 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.