vaivsviWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vai is a adjective, vi is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vai” is an adjective and “vi” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49
“vai” frequency rank
#339
“vi” frequency rank
388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vai vi
Definition relativo aos vais tu, você, pronome da segunda pessoa do singular

Where the eye mixes vai and vi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
vai
2 ch
vi

Visual trap between vai and vi

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vai is /ˈvaj/ while vi is /'vi/. 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 (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vai is recorded at frequency rank #49, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈvaj/. vi is at rank #339, tagged as apron, pronounced /'vi/.

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 388, this pair ranks #75,251 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vai vs vi

Shared letters: iv. Private to "vai": a. Private to "vi": -.

"vai" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "vi" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vai" and "vi" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vai" is an adjective and "vi" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vai" or "vi"?
"vai" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #49 in our Portuguese list, against #339 for "vi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "vai" and "vi" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #75,251 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vai" and "vi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vet vs vi". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #75,251 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list