unidovsunirConfusable pair

Quick tell: unido is a adjective, unir is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“unido” is an adjective and “unir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,296
“unido” frequency rank
#4,962
“unir” frequency rank
7258
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unido unir
Definition junto juntar

Where the eye mixes unido and unir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
unido
4 ch
unir

Visual trap between unido and unir

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unido is /u.ˈni.du/ while unir is /ˈu.niɾ/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unido is recorded at frequency rank #2,296, classified as anadj, pronounced /u.ˈni.du/. unir is at rank #4,962, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈu.niɾ/.

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 7258, this pair ranks #66,920 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of unido vs unir

Shared letters: inu. Private to "unido": do. Private to "unir": r.

"unido" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "unir" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unidonuido · uindo · undio · uniddo · uniod · unnido
  • unirnuir · uinr · unirr · unnir · unri

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "unido" for "unir" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "unido" is an adjective and "unir" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "unido" or "unir" show up more?
"unido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,296 in our Portuguese list, against #4,962 for "unir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "unido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,920 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unido" and "unir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unir vs unser". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #66,920 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