4vsvierWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“4” and “vier” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#150
“4” frequency rank
#328
“vier” frequency rank
478
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature 4 vier
Definition eine arabische Ziffer (ein Zahlzeichen), welche die Zahl Vier darstellt die Kardinalzahl zwischen drei und fünf

Same sound, different letters: 4 vs vier

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. No shared letter run - the mix-up is pure homophony.

1 ch
4
4 ch
vier

Ear matches; page differs - 4 and vier

This is the hard kind. 4 and vier are pronounced identically ([fiːɐ̯]) and both work as anum. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 3 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

4 is recorded at frequency rank #150, classified as anum, pronounced [fiːɐ̯]. vier is at rank #328, tagged as anum, pronounced [fiːɐ̯].

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 478, this pair ranks #2,005,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of 4 vs vier

Shared letters: none. Private to "4": -. Private to "vier": eirv.

"4" · 0 letters · shape  ·  "vier" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vieriver · veir · vierr · vire · vvier

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "4" and "vier" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same ([fiːɐ̯]), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "4" vs "vier" - which ranks higher?
"4" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #150 in our German list, against #328 for "vier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've separated the homophone pair "4" / "vier". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "4" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,005,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "4" and "vier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vier vs vila". 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 #2,005,795 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list