VHSvsvirConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#30,018
“VHS” frequency rank
#46,521
“vir” frequency rank
76539
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature VHS vir
Definition Caméra à la norme VHS. Forme mutée de bir par adoucissement (b → v).

Where the eye mixes VHS and vir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
VHS
3 ch
vir

Look-alike desk: VHS vs vir

A purely visual mix-up. VHS (\ve a.ʃ‿ɛs\) and vir (\ˈviː.r\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

VHS is recorded at frequency rank #30,018, classified as anoun, pronounced \ve a.ʃ‿ɛs\. vir is at rank #46,521, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈviː.r\.

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 76539, this pair ranks #30,841 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of VHS vs vir

Shared letters: v. Private to "VHS": hs. Private to "vir": ir.

"VHS" · 3 letters · shape CCC  ·  "vir" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "VHS" for "vir" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ve a.ʃ‿ɛs\ versus \ˈviː.r\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "VHS" or "vir"?
"VHS" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,018 in our French list, against #46,521 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 "VHS" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #30,841 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "VHS" and "vir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vir vs viv". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #30,841 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list