Meaning & use
vice versa
Last updated
Meaning
adverbnot comparable
Used to say that what you have just said is also true in the opposite order, with the two things swapped.
Grammar: Added after a statement about two things: Cats fear dogs and vice versa. It stands in for repeating the swapped sentence.
Patterns
- and vice versa
- or vice versa
Parents can learn from their children, and vice versa.
I can't understand her accent, and vice versa.
You can go from the station to the market, or vice versa.
Common combinations
- and vice versa
- Good health improves mood, and vice versa.
- or vice versa
- Don't put the red cable in the blue port or vice versa.
- and vice versa for
- Prices go up when demand rises, and vice versa.
- vice versa
- Sales affect morale and vice versa.
Synonyms and how they differ
- conversely
- Conversely starts a new sentence or clause to introduce the opposite point, whereas vice versa closes a statement already made.
- the other way around
- This is the plain spoken version of vice versa and sounds more relaxed.
- in reverse
- In reverse describes doing something backward, but vice versa swaps the roles of two named things.
Word family
- vice preposition
- in place of, as in vice president, from the same Latin root
- versa adjective
- Latin for turned, found only in this phrase
Commonly confused: vice versa or visa versa?
vice versa vs visa versa
This is a common misspelling; the correct spelling is vice versa.
Practice
Complete the sentence: Dogs often chase cats, and ___.
Choose one answer.
Vice versa is the fixed phrase meaning the reverse is also true. The other forms are misspellings or wrong word order.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vice versa”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.