virvsvisTell them apart

Which to use

“vir” and “vis” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,303
“vir” frequency rank
#25,863
“vis” frequency rank
61166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vir vis
Definition Mutación suave del sustantivo femenino bir ('flecha') Fuerza, vigor.

Where the eye mixes vir and vis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
vir
3 ch
vis

Why the eye confuses vir with vis

A purely visual mix-up. vir ([ˈviːr]) and vis ([ˈbis]) 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 a single letter - r in “vir” becomes s in “vis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vir is recorded at frequency rank #35,303, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈviːr]. vis is at rank #25,863, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbis].

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 61166, this pair ranks #56,410 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vir vs vis

Shared letters: iv. Private to "vir": r. Private to "vis": s.

"vir" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "vis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vir" and "vis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈviːr] versus [ˈbis]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vir" or "vis"?
"vis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,863 in our Spanish list, against #35,303 for "vir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,410 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vir" and "vis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vir vs VOR". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #56,410 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list