união vs uno, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#815
“união” frequency rank: #11,761
“uno” frequency rank: 12576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	união	uno
Definition	ato ou resultado de unir-se	único

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

união

3 ch

uno

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: união is /u.ˈnjɐ̃w̃/ while uno is /ˈunu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 12576, 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/. uno is at rank #11,761, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈunu/.

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 12576, this pair ranks #59,958 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of união vs uno

Shared letters: nou. Private to "união": iã. Private to "uno": -.

"união" · 5 letters · shape VCVVV · "uno" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

união#815

uno#11,761

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"união" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #815 in our Portuguese list, against #11,761 for "uno". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering união vs uno

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 “uno”.
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