Which to use
“vieil” and “vital” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,254
- “vieil” frequency rank
- #8,636
- “vital” frequency rank
- 14890
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vieil | vital |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin singulier de vieux devant une voyelle ou un h muet. | Qui appartient à la vie, qui est essentiel à la vie. |
Where the eye mixes vieil and vital
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: vieil vs vital
A purely visual mix-up. vieil (\vjɛj\) and vital (\vi.tal\) 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 14890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vieil is recorded at frequency rank #6,254, classified as anadj, pronounced \vjɛj\. vital is at rank #8,636, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vi.tal\.
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 14890, this pair ranks #394,763 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vieil vs vital
Shared letters: ilv. Private to "vieil": e. Private to "vital": at.
"vieil" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "vital" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vieil" for "vital" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vieil" vs "vital" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "vieil" and "vital" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vieil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vital" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,763 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vieil" and "vital" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigan vs vital". 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 #394,763 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.