Which to use
“viv” is a verb and “vives” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,426
- “viv” frequency rank
- #7,637
- “vives” frequency rank
- 57063
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | viv | vives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vivre. | Féminin pluriel de vif. |
Same sound, different letters: viv vs vives
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - viv and vives
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: viv and vives carry the same recorded pronunciation, \viv\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “viv” sits inside “vives”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
viv is recorded at frequency rank #49,426, classified as averb, pronounced \viv\. 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 57063, this pair ranks #117,267 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of viv vs vives
Shared letters: iv. Private to "viv": -. Private to "vives": es.
"viv" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "vives" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vives ← ivves · vievs · vivess · vivse · vivves · vvives
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "viv" for "vives" ever safe?
Which is more common, "viv" or "vives"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "viv" 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 #117,267 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "viv" and "vives" 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 #117,267 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.