VerbvsvorConfusable pair

Quick tell: Verb is a noun, vor is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Verb” is a noun and “vor” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,988
“Verb” frequency rank
#64
“vor” frequency rank
12052
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Verb vor
Definition Wort, mit dem eine Handlung (beispielsweise spielen, lachen, werfen), ein Zustand (glänzen, sich auflösen) oder ein Geschehen (regnen, schneien) ausgedrückt wird früher, eher

Where the eye mixes Verb and vor

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

4 ch
Verb
3 ch
vor

Look-alike desk: Verb vs vor

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Verb is [vɛʁp] while vor is [foːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12052, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Verb is recorded at frequency rank #11,988, classified as anoun, pronounced [vɛʁp]. vor is at rank #64, tagged as aprep, pronounced [foːɐ̯].

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 12052, this pair ranks #1,966,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Verb vs vor

Shared letters: rv. Private to "Verb": be. Private to "vor": o.

"Verb" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "vor" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Verbevrb · vebr · verbb · verrb · vreb · vverb

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Verb" for "vor" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Verb" is a noun and "vor" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Verb" or "vor"?
"vor" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #64 in our German list, against #11,988 for "Verb". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Verb" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,966,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Verb" and "vor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verb vs Vero". 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 #1,966,462 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