us

/əs/

//əs// pron

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"us" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“us” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #95 in English word frequency and used as a pronoun.

#95
frequency rank, English
2
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Me and at least one other person, excluding the person(s) being addressed. (exclusive us.)

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

us vs UT
0% similar
us vs UV
0% similar
us vs UW
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for us
PropertyValue
Headwordus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPronoun
IPA/əs/
Letters2
Frequency rank#95
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “us” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). us lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for us is 2 letters long, classified as a pronoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əs/. Corpus data places it at rank #95 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

us has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "UT", "UV", "UW", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *n̥smé Proto-Germanic *uns Old English ūs Middle English us English us From Middle English us, from Old English ūs (“us”, dative personal pronoun), from Proto-West Germanic *uns, from Proto-Germanic *uns (“us”), from Proto… The correct English form is us, spelled U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Me and at least one other person, excluding the person(s) being addressed. (exclusive us.)
  2. 2
    Me and at least one other person, including the person(s) being addressed. (inclusive us.)
  3. 3
    We, used in the same circumstances where "me" would be used instead of "I", e.g. for the pronoun in isolation or as the complement of the copula
  4. 4
    Any entity that the speaker is a part of or identifies with, such as place of employment or education, nation, region, language, etc.
  5. 5
    People in general.
  6. 6
    The person(s) being addressed.
  7. 7
    Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners.
  8. 8
    Me.
  9. 9
    Me (in all contexts).

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *n̥smé Proto-Germanic *uns Old English ūs Middle English us English us From Middle English us, from Old English ūs (“us”, dative personal pronoun), from Proto-West Germanic *uns, from Proto-Germanic *uns (“us”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥swé, alteration of *n̥smé (“us”). The compensatory lengthening was lost in Middle English due to the word being unstressed when used. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uus (“us”), West Frisian us, ús (“us”), Low German uns, us (“us”), Dutch ons (“us”), German uns (“us”), Danish os (“us”), Latin nōs (“we, us”).

This word in other languages

nos(Español)nous(Français)uns(Deutsch)nos(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "us"?
"us" is spelled U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /əs/.
What does "us" mean?
As a pronoun, "us" means: Me and at least one other person, excluding the person(s) being addressed. (exclusive us.)
What words are commonly confused with "us"?
"us" is commonly confused with "UT", "UV", "UW". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "us"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "us" is /əs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "us"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *n̥smé Proto-Germanic *uns Old English ūs Middle English us English us From Middle English us, from Old English ūs (“us”, dative personal pronoun), from Proto-West Germanic *uns, from Proto-Germanic *uns (“us”), ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “us”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /əs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “UT” - see the side-by-side comparison. us vs UT
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list