uhvsuseWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,258
“uh” frequency rank
#2,168
“use” frequency rank
16426
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature uh use
Definition expressa que algo não tem aprovação, é desaprovado, é reprovado, está desagradando uso

Letter map: uh vs use

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

2 ch
uh
3 ch
use

Part-of-speech tell for uh / use

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: uh is anintj and useanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16426, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uh is recorded at frequency rank #14,258, classified as anintj. use is at rank #2,168, tagged as anoun, pronounced (subst) /jus/, (verbo) /juz/.

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 16426, this pair ranks #55,113 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of uh vs use

Shared letters: u. Private to "uh": h. Private to "use": es.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "uh" for "use" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "uh" is an intj and "use" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "uh" or "use"?
"use" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,168 in our Portuguese list, against #14,258 for "uh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "uh" and "use".

  • Full dictionary entry for "uh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "use" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,113 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "uh" and "use" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ú vs uh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #55,113 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