uhvsusaConfusable pair

Quick tell: uh is a intj, usa is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“uh” is an intj and “usa” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,258
“uh” frequency rank
#1,103
“usa” frequency rank
15361
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature uh usa
Definition expressa que algo não tem aprovação, é desaprovado, é reprovado, está desagradando terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo usar

Letter map: uh vs usa

Shared letters muted; letters that set uh and usa apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

2 ch
uh
3 ch
usa

Grammar separator: uh vs usa

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: uh is anintj and usaaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uh is recorded at frequency rank #14,258, classified as anintj. usa is at rank #1,103, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈu.zə/.

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 15361, this pair ranks #56,469 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of uh vs usa

Shared letters: u. Private to "uh": h. Private to "usa": as.

"uh" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "usa" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "uh" for "usa" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "uh" is an intj and "usa" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "uh" or "usa" show up more?
"usa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,103 in our Portuguese list, against #14,258 for "uh". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pair "uh" vs "usa" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "uh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "usa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,469 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "uh" and "usa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ú vs uh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #56,469 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list