vasvsvieConfusable pair

Quick tell: vas is a verb, vie is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vas” is a verb and “vie” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,809
“vas” frequency rank
#14,708
“vie” frequency rank
62517
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vas vie
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs aller Leben

Where the eye mixes vas and vie

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. vas (CVC) and vie (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
vas
3 ch
vie

Visual trap between vas and vie

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vas is [va] while vie is [vi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vas is recorded at frequency rank #47,809, classified as averb, pronounced [va]. vie is at rank #14,708, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vi].

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 62517, this pair ranks #709,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vas vs vie

Shared letters: v. Private to "vas": as. Private to "vie": ei.

"vas" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "vie" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vas" for "vie" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vas" is a verb and "vie" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vas" vs "vie" - which ranks higher?
"vie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,708 in our German list, against #47,809 for "vas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "vas" and "vie" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #709,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vas" and "vie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vas vs VN". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #709,930 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