vivevsvivoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vive is a verb, vivo is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#37,878
“vive” frequency rank
#39,118
“vivo” frequency rank
76996
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vive vivo
Definition Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs viver (unabhängig von Person und Numerus) lebendig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vive and vivo apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
vive
4 ch
vivo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: vive is averb and vivoanadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - e in “vive” becomes o in “vivo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vive is recorded at frequency rank #37,878, classified as averb, pronounced […]. vivo is at rank #39,118, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈviːvo].

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 76996, this pair ranks #270,948 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vive vs vivo

Shared letters: iv. Private to "vive": e. Private to "vivo": o.

"vive" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vivo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viveivve · viev · vivve · vvie · vvive
  • vivoivvo · viov · vivvo · vvio · vvivo

Frequency comparison

vive#37,878
vivo#39,118

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vive" and "vivo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vive" is a verb and "vivo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vive" or "vivo"?
"vive" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,878 in our German list, against #39,118 for "vivo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vive vs vivo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “vive”; for an adjective, it's “vivo”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vive” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list