Which to use
“us” is a pronoun and “used” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,429
- “us” frequency rank
- #32,445
- “used” frequency rank
- 34874
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | us | used |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nosotros (acusativo, dativo). | Que es o ha sido usado. |
Where the eye mixes us and used
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between us and used
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: us is /ʌs/ while used is /juːzd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “us” sits inside “used”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
us is recorded at frequency rank #2,429, classified as apron, pronounced /ʌs/. used is at rank #32,445, tagged as anadj, pronounced /juːzd/.
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 34874, this pair ranks #189,064 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of us vs used
Shared letters: su. Private to "us": -. Private to "used": de.
"us" · 2 letters · shape VC · "used" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- used ← sued · uced · uesd · usde · usedd · ussed
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "us" and "used" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "us" or "used"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "us" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "used" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #189,064 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "us" and "used" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "urea vs used". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #189,064 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.