UrivsútilConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#38,438
“Uri” frequency rank
#2,279
“útil” frequency rank
40717
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Uri útil
Definition Apellido. Que sirve a un efecto.

Where the eye mixes Uri and útil

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

3 ch
Uri
4 ch
útil

Look-alike desk: Uri vs útil

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Uri is [ˈuɾi] while útil is [ˈut̪il]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40717, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Uri is recorded at frequency rank #38,438, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈuɾi]. 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 40717, this pair ranks #157,570 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Uri vs útil

Shared letters: i. Private to "Uri": ru. Private to "útil": ltú.

"Uri" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "útil" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Uri" for "útil" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Uri" is a name and "útil" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "Uri" or "útil" show up more?
"útil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,279 in our Spanish list, against #38,438 for "Uri". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Uri" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "útil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #157,570 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Uri" and "útil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "urea vs Uri". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #157,570 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