Which to use
“vais” and “viv” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #219
- “vais” frequency rank
- #49,426
- “viv” frequency rank
- 49645
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vais | viv |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de aller. | Vivre. |
Where the eye mixes vais and viv
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: vais vs viv
A purely visual mix-up. vais (\vɛ\) and viv (\viv\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vais is recorded at frequency rank #219, classified as averb, pronounced \vɛ\. viv is at rank #49,426, tagged as averb, pronounced \viv\.
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 49645, this pair ranks #168,951 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vais vs viv
Shared letters: iv. Private to "vais": as. Private to "viv": -.
"vais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "viv" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vais ← vaiss · vasi · vias · vvais
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vais" and "viv" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "vais" or "viv"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "viv" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #168,951 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vais" and "viv" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vial vs viv". 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 #168,951 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.