uitvsunWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: uit is a onomatopoeia, un is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“uit” is an onomatopoeia and “un” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,796
“uit” frequency rank
#12
“un” frequency rank
44808
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature uit un
Definition Bruit évoquant une action effectuée très rapidement. Marque l’unité, le fait qu’une personne ou une chose est seule, unique en son espèce.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set uit and un apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
uit
2 ch
un

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: uit is \ɥit\ while un is \œ̃\. 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 (onomatopoeia vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uit is recorded at frequency rank #44,796, classified as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \ɥit\. un is at rank #12, tagged as anadj, pronounced \œ̃\.

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 44808, this pair ranks #207,654 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of uit vs un

Shared letters: u. Private to "uit": it. Private to "un": n.

"uit" · 3 letters · shape VVC  ·  "un" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequency comparison

uit#44,796
un#12

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "uit" and "un" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "uit" is an onomatopoeia and "un" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "uit" or "un"?
"un" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12 in our French list, against #44,796 for "uit". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering uit vs un

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an onomatopoeia, it's “uit”; for an adjective, it's “un”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “uit” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list