uníavsúnicoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: unía is a verb, único is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“unía” is a verb and “único” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,689
“unía” frequency rank
#368
“único” frequency rank
25057
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unía único
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de unir o de unirse. Dícese de lo que hay uno y solo un ejemplar.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
unía
5 ch
único

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unía is [uˈnia] while único is [ˈuniko]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25057, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unía is recorded at frequency rank #24,689, classified as averb, pronounced [uˈnia]. único is at rank #368, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈuniko].

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 25057, this pair ranks #238,202 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unía vs único

Shared letters: n. Private to "unía": auí. Private to "único": cioú.

"unía" · 4 letters · shape VCVV  ·  "único" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequency comparison

unía#24,689
único#368

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unía" and "único" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "unía" is a verb and "único" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "unía" or "único"?
"único" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #368 in our Spanish list, against #24,689 for "unía". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering unía vs único

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “unía”; for an adjective, it's “único”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “unía” 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