vagenvsvotenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vagen is a adjective, voten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vagen” is an adjective and “voten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,571
“vagen” frequency rank
#32,856
“voten” frequency rank
76427
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vagen voten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs vage abstimmen, wählen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vagen and voten apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
vagen
5 ch
voten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vagen is [ˈvaːɡn̩] while voten is [ˈvoːtn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vagen is recorded at frequency rank #43,571, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaːɡn̩]. voten is at rank #32,856, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvoːtn̩].

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 76427, this pair ranks #284,167 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vagen vs voten

Shared letters: env. Private to "vagen": ag. Private to "voten": ot.

"vagen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "voten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vagenavgen · vaegn · vagenn · vaggen · vagne · vgaen · vvagen
  • votenovten · voetn · votenn · votne · votten · vtoen · vvoten

Frequency comparison

vagen#43,571
voten#32,856

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vagen" and "voten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vagen" is an adjective and "voten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vagen" or "voten"?
"voten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,856 in our German list, against #43,571 for "vagen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vagen vs voten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vagen”; for a verb, it's “voten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vagen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list