uno vs uns, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#77
“uno” frequency rank: #39,514
“uns” frequency rank: 39591
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	uno	uns
Definition	La cantidad de una cosa solitaria (a saber, sin otros).	Forma del acusativo de wir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set uno and uns apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

uno

3 ch

uns

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: uno is [ˈuno] while uns is /ʊns/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - o in “uno” becomes s in “uns”, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uno is recorded at frequency rank #77, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈuno]. uns is at rank #39,514, tagged as apron, pronounced /ʊns/.

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 39591, this pair ranks #163,703 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of uno vs uns

Shared letters: nu. Private to "uno": o. Private to "uns": s.

"uno" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "uns" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequency comparison

uno#77

uns#39,514

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "uno" and "uns" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "uno" is a num and "uns" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "uno" or "uns"?

"uno" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #77 in our Spanish list, against #39,514 for "uns". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering uno vs uns

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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