forderevsfordernConfusable pair

Which to use

“fordere” and “fordern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,430
“fordere” frequency rank
#2,293
“fordern” frequency rank
13723
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fordere fordern
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fordern etwas (von jemandem) verlangen

Where the eye mixes fordere and fordern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fordere (CVCCVCV) and fordern (CVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
fordere
7 ch
fordern

Why the eye confuses fordere with fordern

A purely visual mix-up. fordere ([ˈfɔʁdəʁə]) and fordern ([ˈfɔʁdɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - e in “fordere” becomes n in “fordern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13723, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fordere is recorded at frequency rank #11,430, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔʁdəʁə]. fordern is at rank #2,293, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔʁdɐn].

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 13723, this pair ranks #1,956,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fordere vs fordern

Shared letters: defor. Private to "fordere": -. Private to "fordern": n.

"fordere" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "fordern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fordereffordere · fodrere · forddere · fordeer · forderre · fordree · foredre · forrdere
  • fordernffordern · fodrern · forddern · fordenr · fordernn · forderrn · fordren · foredrn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fordere" for "fordern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɔʁdəʁə] versus [ˈfɔʁdɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fordere" or "fordern"?
"fordern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,293 in our German list, against #11,430 for "fordere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fordere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fordern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,956,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fordere" and "fordern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fordere vs friere". 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 #1,956,139 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list