Which to use
“vis” is a noun and “vives” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #993
- “vis” frequency rank
- #7,637
- “vives” frequency rank
- 8630
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vis | vives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pièce mécanique formée d’un corps qui comporte un filet de forme hélicoïdale et une tête où une empreinte permet d’appliquer un couple ; il en résulte un double mouvement de rotation et de translation. En mécanique, elles sont souvent employées avec des écrous pour former des boulons. | Féminin pluriel de vif. |
Where the eye mixes vis and vives
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses vis with vives
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vis is \vis\ while vives is \viv\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vis is recorded at frequency rank #993, classified as anoun, pronounced \vis\. vives is at rank #7,637, tagged as anadj, 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 8630, this pair ranks #419,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vis vs vives
Shared letters: isv. Private to "vis": -. Private to "vives": e.
"vis" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "vives" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vives ← ivves · vievs · vivess · vivse · vivves · vvives
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vis" and "vives" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "vis" vs "vives" - 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 "vis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #419,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vis" and "vives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "viv vs vives". 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 #419,371 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.