Which to use
“verboten” is an adjective and “Vorboten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,132
- “verboten” frequency rank
- #49,362
- “Vorboten” frequency rank
- 51494
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verboten | Vorboten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht erlaubt | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Vorbote |
Where the eye mixes verboten and Vorboten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verboten and Vorboten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verboten and Vorboten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verboten is [fɛɐ̯ˈboːtn̩] while Vorboten is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌboːtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “verboten” becomes o in “Vorboten”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verboten is recorded at frequency rank #2,132, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈboːtn̩]. Vorboten is at rank #49,362, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌboːtn̩].
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 51494, this pair ranks #1,133,402 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verboten vs Vorboten
Shared letters: benortv. Private to "verboten": -. Private to "Vorboten": -.
"verboten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "Vorboten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verboten" and "Vorboten" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "verboten" or "Vorboten"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verboten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Vorboten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,133,402 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verboten" and "Vorboten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vorboten vs Vororten". 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 #1,133,402 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.