Which to use
“ui” and “ur” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,979
- “ui” frequency rank
- #26,655
- “ur” frequency rank
- 50634
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ui | ur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cebolla. | Agua. |
Where the eye mixes ui and ur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ui with ur
A purely visual mix-up. ui ([œy]) and ur (/uɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - i in “ui” becomes r in “ur”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ui is recorded at frequency rank #23,979, classified as anoun, pronounced [œy]. ur is at rank #26,655, tagged as anoun, pronounced /uɾ/.
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 50634, this pair ranks #102,150 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ui vs ur
Shared letters: u. Private to "ui": i. Private to "ur": r.
"ui" · 2 letters · shape VV · "ur" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ui" and "ur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ui" or "ur" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ui" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #102,150 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ui" and "ur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ur vs urea". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #102,150 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.