Which to use
“vie” and “vis” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,708
- “vie” frequency rank
- #23,775
- “vis” frequency rank
- 38483
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vie | vis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Leben | Schraube |
Where the eye mixes vie and vis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: vie vs vis
A purely visual mix-up. vie ([vi]) and vis ([vis]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - e in “vie” becomes s in “vis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vie is recorded at frequency rank #14,708, classified as anoun, pronounced [vi]. vis is at rank #23,775, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vis].
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 38483, this pair ranks #1,562,777 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vie vs vis
Shared letters: iv. Private to "vie": e. Private to "vis": s.
"vie" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "vis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vie" and "vis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "vie" or "vis" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,562,777 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vie" and "vis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vis vs voip". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,562,777 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.