unovsutaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: uno is a num, uta is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#77
“uno” frequency rank
#26,660
“uta” frequency rank
26737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature uno uta
Definition La cantidad de una cosa solitaria (a saber, sin otros). Úlcera del rostro que se da comúnmente en los valles húmedos del Perú.

Where the eye mixes uno and uta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
uno
3 ch
uta

Visual trap between uno and uta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: uno is [ˈuno] while uta is [ˈut̪a]. 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 (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uno is recorded at frequency rank #77, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈuno]. uta is at rank #26,660, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈut̪a].

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 26737, this pair ranks #230,204 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of uno vs uta

Shared letters: u. Private to "uno": no. Private to "uta": at.

"uno" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "uta" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "uno" for "uta" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "uno" is a num and "uta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "uno" or "uta" show up more?
"uno" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #77 in our Spanish list, against #26,660 for "uta". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "uno" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "uta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #230,204 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "uno" and "uta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "urea vs uta". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #230,204 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list