uma vs use, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#13
“uma” frequency rank: #2,168
“use” frequency rank: 2181
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	uma	use
Definition	feminino de um	uso

Where the eye mixes uma and use

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

uma

3 ch

use

Why the eye confuses uma with use

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: uma is /ˈu.mɐ/ while use is (subst) /jus/, (verbo) /juz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (article vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2181, 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/. 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 2181, this pair ranks #73,295 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of uma vs use

Shared letters: u. Private to "uma": am. Private to "use": es.

"uma" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "use" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

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

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "uma" is an article and "use" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

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

"uma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13 in our Portuguese list, against #2,168 for "use". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

Full dictionary entry for "uma" 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 #73,295 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"uma" and "use" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unser vs use". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #73,295 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.