Which to use
“vive” is a noun and “vivez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,206
- “vive” frequency rank
- #9,096
- “vivez” frequency rank
- 11302
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vive | vivez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Type de poisson osseux marin de l’Atlantique, de la Méditerranée et de la mer Noire, qui possède une épine dorsale venimeuse, et a la bouche inclinée vers le haut et les yeux situés au-dessus de la tête, de la famille des trachinidés, par exemple la grande vive. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de vivre. |
Where the eye mixes vive and vivez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vive runs 4 letters (CVCV) against vivez's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses vive with vivez
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vive is \viv\ while vivez is \vi.ve\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “vive” sits inside “vivez”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11302, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vive is recorded at frequency rank #2,206, classified as anoun, pronounced \viv\. vivez is at rank #9,096, tagged as averb, pronounced \vi.ve\.
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 11302, this pair ranks #409,659 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vive vs vivez
Shared letters: eiv. Private to "vive": -. Private to "vivez": z.
"vive" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "vivez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vive" for "vivez" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vive" or "vivez"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "vive" and "vivez" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vivez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #409,659 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vive" and "vivez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "viv vs vivez". 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 #409,659 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.