viervsvinWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: vier is a num, vin is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vier” is a num and “vin” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#328
“vier” frequency rank
#29,407
“vin” frequency rank
29735
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vier vin
Definition die Kardinalzahl zwischen drei und fünf 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs vij „(an)kommen“

Letter map: vier vs vin

Shared letters muted; letters that set vier and vin apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
vier
3 ch
vin

Grammar separator: vier vs vin

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: vier is anum and vinaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vier is recorded at frequency rank #328, classified as anum, pronounced [fiːɐ̯]. vin is at rank #29,407, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 29735, this pair ranks #1,761,279 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vier vs vin

Shared letters: iv. Private to "vier": er. Private to "vin": n.

"vier" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "vin" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vieriver · veir · vierr · vire · vvier

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vier" and "vin" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vier" is a num and "vin" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "vier" or "vin" show up more?
"vier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #328 in our German list, against #29,407 for "vin". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "vier" and "vin".

  • Full dictionary entry for "vier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,761,279 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vier" and "vin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs vin". 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 #1,761,279 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