Which to use
“vire” is a noun and “vivre” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,094
- “vire” frequency rank
- #515
- “vivre” frequency rank
- 9609
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vire | vivre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Étroite plate-forme ou corniche sur les flancs d’une paroi rocheuse, sentier serpentant le long d’une montagne. | Être doué de vie, être en vie. |
Where the eye mixes vire and vivre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vire runs 4 letters (CVCV) against vivre's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses vire with vivre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vire is \viʁ\ while vivre is \vivʁ\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vire is recorded at frequency rank #9,094, classified as anoun, pronounced \viʁ\. vivre is at rank #515, tagged as averb, pronounced \vivʁ\.
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 9609, this pair ranks #416,048 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vire vs vivre
Shared letters: eirv. Private to "vire": -. Private to "vivre": -.
"vire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "vivre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vire" and "vivre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "vire" vs "vivre" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vivre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #416,048 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vire" and "vivre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vire 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 #416,048 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.