vidavsvierWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: vida is a noun, vier is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vida” is a noun and “vier” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#85
“vida” frequency rank
#6,487
“vier” frequency rank
6572
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vida vier
Definition propriedade que caracteriza os organismos cuja existência evolui do nascimento até a morte primeira pessoa do singular do futuro do subjuntivo do verbo vir

Where the eye mixes vida and vier

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

4 ch
vida
4 ch
vier

Why the eye confuses vida with vier

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vida is /ˈvi.ta/ while vier is /vi.ˈɛɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6572, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vida is recorded at frequency rank #85, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvi.ta/. vier is at rank #6,487, tagged as averb, pronounced /vi.ˈɛɾ/.

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 6572, this pair ranks #67,833 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vida vs vier

Shared letters: iv. Private to "vida": ad. Private to "vier": er.

"vida" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vier" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vidaivda · vdia · viad · vidda · vvida
  • vieriver · veir · vierr · vire

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vida" and "vier" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vida" is a noun and "vier" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vida" vs "vier" - which ranks higher?
"vida" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #85 in our Portuguese list, against #6,487 for "vier". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,833 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vida" and "vier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vier vs visar". 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 #67,833 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