uníavsútilWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#24,689
“unía” frequency rank
#2,279
“útil” frequency rank
26968
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unía útil
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de unir o de unirse. Que sirve a un efecto.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set unía and útil apart are highlighted. They share no common letter run, the confusion here is by sound, not by sight.

4 ch
unía
4 ch
útil

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

unía and útil form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26968, 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]. útil is at rank #2,279, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈut̪il].

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 26968, this pair ranks #229,053 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

unía#24,689
útil#2,279

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unía" and "útil" be used interchangeably?
No, "unía" and "útil" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering unía vs útil

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 “útil”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list