viervsviveWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#328
“vier” frequency rank
#37,878
“vive” frequency rank
38206
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vier vive
Definition die Kardinalzahl zwischen drei und fünf Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs viver (unabhängig von Person und Numerus)

Letter map: vier vs vive

Shared letters muted; letters that set vier and vive apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
vier
4 ch
vive

Role in the sentence - vier and vive

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: vier is anum and viveaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38206, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vier is recorded at frequency rank #328, classified as anum, pronounced [fiːɐ̯]. vive is at rank #37,878, 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 38206, this pair ranks #1,570,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vier vs vive

Shared letters: eiv. Private to "vier": r. Private to "vive": -.

"vier" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "vive" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vieriver · veir · vierr · vire · vvier
  • viveivve · viev · vivve · vvie · vvive

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vier" and "vive" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vier" is a num and "vive" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vier" or "vive"?
"vier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #328 in our German list, against #37,878 for "vive". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pair "vier" vs "vive" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,570,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vier" and "vive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs vive". 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 #1,570,070 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