Vie or Vye?

Should I Write "Vie" or "Vye"?

"Vie" and "vye" are easy to confuse, but they shouldn't be because "vye" is now obsolete. "Vye" is the old form of "vie." However, the letter "y" still appears in "vying," which is the root of the confusion. For example:

• Government rivals vie for power in Zanzibar.
• A variety of former opposition parties are vying for power in the upcoming elections.

More about "Vie" or "Vye"

The verb "to vie" means to compete with someone in order to achieve something. Of interest, the verb "to vie," which was popular in the 19th century, is getting less popular. [evidence]

Here are some example sentence with difference versions of the verb to "vie":

• The government is heading for serious political instability as its rival party vies for power.
• The top students in the class vied for the title of valedictorian.
• The Japanese potters could never vie with the Chinese potters in the production of glazes.
• The swimmers were vying for a place on team USA.

Conjugating the Verb "To Vie"

Here is the conjugation of the verb "to vie."

Pronoun	Person	Simple Present	Simple Past
I	First person singular	vie	vied
You	Second person singular	vie	vied
He/She/It	Third person singular	vies	vied
We	First person plural	vie	vied
You	Second person plural	vie	vied
They	Third person plural	vie	vied

Present Participle of "To Vie"

The present participle and gerund of "to vie" is "vying." It retains the "y" from the obsolete version. (Of interest, "to vie" is like "to lie," the present participle of which is "lying.")

Example sentences with "vying":

• We are independent of the two factions that are vying for power.
• I'm really interested in cliques. I like watching girls vying for attention. (New Zeland singer Lorde)