vitallyvsvitalsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vitally is a adverb, vitals is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vitally” is an adverb and “vitals” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,401
“vitally” frequency rank
#46,848
“vitals” frequency rank
78249
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vitally vitals
Definition In a manner that imparts vitality Those organs of the body that are essential for life.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vitally and vitals apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
vitally
6 ch
vitals

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vitally is /ˈvaɪ.tə.li/ while vitals is /ˈvaɪtəlz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78249, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vitally is recorded at frequency rank #31,401, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈvaɪ.tə.li/. vitals is at rank #46,848, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvaɪtəlz/.

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 78249, this pair ranks #25,082 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vitally vs vitals

Shared letters: ailtv. Private to "vitally": y. Private to "vitals": s.

"vitally" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "vitals" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vitallyivtally · viatlly · vitallyy · vitaly · vitalyl · vitlaly · vittally · vtially
  • vitalsivtals · viatls · vitalls · vitalss · vitasl · vitlas · vittals · vtials

Frequency comparison

vitally#31,401
vitals#46,848

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vitally" and "vitals" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vitally" is an adverb and "vitals" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vitally" or "vitals"?
"vitally" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,401 in our English list, against #46,848 for "vitals". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vitally vs vitals

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “vitally”; for a noun, it's “vitals”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vitally” 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