uñavsunoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: uña is a noun, uno is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“uña” is a noun and “uno” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,473
“uña” frequency rank
#77
“uno” frequency rank
16550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature uña uno
Definition Capa queratinosa (córnea) que recubre el extremo de los dedos del hombre y de algunos animales. Algunos felinos, como los gatos, tienen uñas retráctiles. La cantidad de una cosa solitaria (a saber, sin otros).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set uña and uno apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
uña
3 ch
uno

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: uña is [ˈuɲa] while uno is [ˈuno]. 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 (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uña is recorded at frequency rank #16,473, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈuɲa]. uno is at rank #77, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈuno].

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 16550, this pair ranks #275,694 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of uña vs uno

Shared letters: u. Private to "uña": . Private to "uno": no.

"uña" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "uno" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

uña#16,473
uno#77

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "uña" and "uno" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "uña" is a noun and "uno" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "uña" or "uno"?
"uno" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #77 in our Spanish list, against #16,473 for "uña". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering uña vs uno

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “uña”; for a num, it's “uno”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “uña” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list