Which to use
“vital” and “vitale” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,823
- “vital” frequency rank
- #39,706
- “vitale” frequency rank
- 65529
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vital | vitale |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | lebendig, kräftig | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vital |
Where the eye mixes vital and vitale
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. vital runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against vitale's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses vital with vitale
A purely visual mix-up. vital ([viˈtaːl]) and vitale ([viˈtaːlə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “vital” sits inside “vitale”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vital is recorded at frequency rank #25,823, classified as anadj, pronounced [viˈtaːl]. vitale is at rank #39,706, tagged as anadj, pronounced [viˈtaːlə].
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 65529, this pair ranks #603,748 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vital vs vitale
Shared letters: ailtv. Private to "vital": -. Private to "vitale": e.
"vital" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "vitale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vital" and "vitale" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "vital" or "vitale"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vital" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vitale" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #603,748 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vital" and "vitale" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "virale vs vitale". 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 #603,748 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.