UhrvsUSBWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#200
“Uhr” frequency rank
#7,245
“USB” frequency rank
7445
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Uhr USB
Definition Instrument zur Messung der Zeit, Chronometer Standardisierte Schnittstelle zum Anschluss peripherer Geräte, wie Drucker, Tastatur, Maus, Massenspeicher usw., an einen Computer

Where the eye mixes Uhr and USB

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

3 ch
Uhr
3 ch
USB

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Uhr ([uːɐ̯]) and USB ([uːʔɛsˈbeː]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Uhr is recorded at frequency rank #200, classified as anoun, pronounced [uːɐ̯]. USB is at rank #7,245, tagged as anoun, pronounced [uːʔɛsˈbeː].

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 7445, this pair ranks #1,988,129 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Uhr vs USB

Shared letters: u. Private to "Uhr": hr. Private to "USB": bs.

"Uhr" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "USB" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Uhr" and "USB" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([uːɐ̯] versus [uːʔɛsˈbeː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Uhr" or "USB"?
"Uhr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #200 in our German list, against #7,245 for "USB". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "Uhr" and "USB". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Uhr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "USB" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,988,129 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Uhr" and "USB" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "uch vs USB". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list