Which to use
“us” is a pronoun and “usar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #999
- “us” frequency rank
- #359
- “usar” frequency rank
- 1358
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | us | usar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nos | empregar habitualmente; fazer uso de; gastar com o uso; pôr em prática; pôr em uso; servir-se de; trazer ou fazer habitualmente; ter por costume; costumar; cotiar; deteriorar; praticar; trajar; trazer; vestir |
Where the eye mixes us and usar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses us with usar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: us is /ʌs/ while usar is /u.ˈzaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “us” sits inside “usar”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1358, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
us is recorded at frequency rank #999, classified as apron, pronounced /ʌs/. usar is at rank #359, tagged as averb, pronounced /u.ˈzaɾ/.
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 1358, this pair ranks #74,222 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of us vs usar
Shared letters: su. Private to "us": -. Private to "usar": ar.
"us" · 2 letters · shape VC · "usar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- usar ← uasr · usarr · usra · ussar
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "us" for "usar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "us" vs "usar" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "us" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "usar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,222 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "us" and "usar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unser vs usar". 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 #74,222 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.