Which to use
“um” is a preposition and “us” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49
- “um” frequency rank
- #438
- “us” frequency rank
- 487
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | um | us |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bezeichnet eine Lage in Bezug zu etwas oder jemanden – wo? | uns |
Where the eye mixes um and us
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between um and us
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: um is [ʊm] while us is [ʌs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “um” becomes s in “us”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
um is recorded at frequency rank #49, classified as aprep, pronounced [ʊm]. us is at rank #438, tagged as apron, pronounced [ʌs].
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 487, this pair ranks #2,005,782 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of um vs us
Shared letters: u. Private to "um": m. Private to "us": s.
"um" · 2 letters · shape VC · "us" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "um" for "us" ever safe?
Which is more common, "um" or "us"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "um" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "us" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,005,782 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "um" and "us" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "uch vs us". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,005,782 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.