unidovsuniónWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: unido is a verb, unión is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“unido” is a verb and “unión” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,593
“unido” frequency rank
#904
“unión” frequency rank
2497
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unido unión
Definition Participio de unir. Acción y efecto de unir o unirse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set unido and unión apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
unido
5 ch
unión

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unido is [uˈnið̞o] while unión is [uˈnjõn]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unido is recorded at frequency rank #1,593, classified as averb, pronounced [uˈnið̞o]. unión is at rank #904, tagged as anoun, pronounced [uˈnjõn].

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 2497, this pair ranks #320,200 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of unido vs unión

Shared letters: inu. Private to "unido": do. Private to "unión": ó.

"unido" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "unión" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unidonuido · uindo · undio · uniddo · uniod · unnido

Frequency comparison

unido#1,593
unión#904

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unido" and "unión" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "unido" is a verb and "unión" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "unido" or "unión"?
"unión" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #904 in our Spanish list, against #1,593 for "unido". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering unido vs unión

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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