unían vs único, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#36,867
“unían” frequency rank: #368
“único” frequency rank: 37235
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	unían	único
Definition	Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) 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 unían and único apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

unían

5 ch

único

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unían is [uˈniãn] while único is [ˈuniko]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37235, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unían is recorded at frequency rank #36,867, classified as averb, pronounced [uˈniãn]. 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 37235, this pair ranks #176,370 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unían vs único

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

"unían" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "único" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequency comparison

unían#36,867

único#368

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unían" and "único" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "unían" is a verb and "único" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "unían" or "único"?

"único" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #368 in our Spanish list, against #36,867 for "unían". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering unían vs único

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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