Which to use
“uns” is a pronoun and “USA” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #85
- “uns” frequency rank
- #404
- “USA” frequency rank
- 489
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | uns | USA |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personalpronomen 1. Person Plural Dativ | die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, föderale Republik in Nordamerika |
Where the eye mixes uns and USA
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between uns and USA
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: uns is [ʊns] while USA is [ˌuːʔɛsˈʔaː]. 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 (pronoun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
uns is recorded at frequency rank #85, classified as apron, pronounced [ʊns]. USA is at rank #404, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˌuːʔɛsˈʔaː].
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 489, this pair ranks #2,005,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of uns vs USA
Shared letters: su. Private to "uns": n. Private to "USA": a.
"uns" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "USA" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "uns" for "USA" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "uns" or "USA" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "uns" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "USA" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,005,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "uns" and "USA" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "uns vs Unze". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,005,778 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.