UhrvsupWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Uhr is a noun, up is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Uhr” is a noun and “up” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#200
“Uhr” frequency rank
#1,907
“up” frequency rank
2107
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Uhr up
Definition Instrument zur Messung der Zeit, Chronometer nach oben

Where the eye mixes Uhr and up

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

3 ch
Uhr
2 ch
up

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Uhr is [uːɐ̯] while up is [ʌp]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Uhr is recorded at frequency rank #200, classified as anoun, pronounced [uːɐ̯]. up is at rank #1,907, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ʌp].

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 2107, this pair ranks #2,003,097 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Uhr vs up

Shared letters: u. Private to "Uhr": hr. Private to "up": p.

"Uhr" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "up" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Uhr" and "up" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Uhr" is a noun and "up" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Uhr" or "up"?
"Uhr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #200 in our German list, against #1,907 for "up". 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