uma vs uns, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“uma” and “uns” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13
“uma” frequency rank: #485
“uns” frequency rank: 498
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	uma	uns
Definition	feminino de um	alguns; certas pessoas

Letter map: uma vs uns

Shared letters muted; letters that set uma and uns apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch

uma

3 ch

uns

Pair insight - uma / uns

uma and uns are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uma is recorded at frequency rank #13, classified as anarticle, pronounced /ˈu.mɐ/. uns is at rank #485, tagged as anarticle.

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 498, this pair ranks #75,165 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of uma vs uns

Shared letters: u. Private to "uma": am. Private to "uns": ns.

"uma" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "uns" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "uma" and "uns" be used interchangeably?

No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Frequency check: "uma" vs "uns" - which ranks higher?

"uma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13 in our Portuguese list, against #485 for "uns". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "uma" and "uns". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "uma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "uns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #75,165 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"uma" and "uns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "uns vs unser". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #75,165 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.