união vs unidas, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“união” is a noun and “unidas” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#815
“união” frequency rank: #2,754
“unidas” frequency rank: 3569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	união	unidas
Definition	ato ou resultado de unir-se	forma plural feminina de unido.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set união and unidas apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

união

6 ch

unidas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: união is /u.ˈnjɐ̃w̃/ while unidas is /ʊ.ˈni.dɐs/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

união is recorded at frequency rank #815, classified as anoun, pronounced /u.ˈnjɐ̃w̃/. unidas is at rank #2,754, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ʊ.ˈni.dɐs/.

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 3569, this pair ranks #71,553 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of união vs unidas

Shared letters: inu. Private to "união": oã. Private to "unidas": ads.

"união" · 5 letters · shape VCVVV · "unidas" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

unidas ← nuidas · uindas · undias · uniads · unidass · uniddas · unidsa · unnidas

Frequency comparison

união#815

unidas#2,754

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "união" and "unidas" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "união" or "unidas"?

"união" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #815 in our Portuguese list, against #2,754 for "unidas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering união vs unidas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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