usavsusesTell them apart

Which to use

“usa” and “uses” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,074
“usa” frequency rank
#13,811
“uses” frequency rank
14885
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature usa uses
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de usar o de usarse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de usar o de usarse.

Where the eye mixes usa and uses

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
usa
4 ch
uses

Visual trap between usa and uses

A purely visual mix-up. usa ([ˈusa]) and uses ([ˈuses]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

usa is recorded at frequency rank #1,074, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈusa]. uses is at rank #13,811, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈuses].

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 14885, this pair ranks #282,358 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of usa vs uses

Shared letters: su. Private to "usa": a. Private to "uses": e.

"usa" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "uses" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • usessues · uces · uess · usess · usse · usses

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "usa" and "uses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈusa] versus [ˈuses]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "usa" vs "uses" - which ranks higher?
"usa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,074 in our Spanish list, against #13,811 for "uses". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "usa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "uses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #282,358 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "usa" and "uses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "urea vs uses". 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 #282,358 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