vidvsvosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,925
“vid” frequency rank
#39,125
“vos” frequency rank
82050
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vid vos
Definition weit Eure, Ihre

Where the eye mixes vid and vos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. vid and vos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
vid
3 ch
vos

Why the eye confuses vid with vos

A purely visual mix-up. vid ([ˈviːd]) and vos ([vo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vid is recorded at frequency rank #42,925, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈviːd]. vos is at rank #39,125, tagged as anadj, pronounced [vo].

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 82050, this pair ranks #164,238 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vid vs vos

Shared letters: v. Private to "vid": di. Private to "vos": os.

"vid" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "vos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vid" for "vos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈviːd] versus [vo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vid" vs "vos" - which ranks higher?
"vos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,125 in our German list, against #42,925 for "vid". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vid" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #164,238 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vid" and "vos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vid vs voip". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #164,238 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