verbringenvsvordringenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,159
“verbringen” frequency rank
#26,679
“vordringen” frequency rank
29838
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbringen vordringen
Definition fortbringen, hinwegschaffen nach Überwindung von Hindernissen, mit Gewalt, unter Mühen zu einem bestimmten, vorher nicht erreichten Ort gelangen

Where the eye mixes verbringen and vordringen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verbringen and vordringen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
verbringen
10 ch
vordringen

Why the eye confuses verbringen with vordringen

A purely visual mix-up. verbringen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbʁɪŋən]) and vordringen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌdʁɪŋən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29838, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbringen is recorded at frequency rank #3,159, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbʁɪŋən]. vordringen is at rank #26,679, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌdʁɪŋən].

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 29838, this pair ranks #1,759,307 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbringen vs vordringen

Shared letters: eginrv. Private to "verbringen": b. Private to "vordringen": do.

"verbringen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC  ·  "vordringen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbringen ← evrbringen · vebrringen · verbbringen · verbirngen · verbrignen · verbrinegn · verbringenn · verbringgen
  • vordringen ← ovrdringen · vodrringen · vorddringen · vordirngen · vordrignen · vordrinegn · vordringenn · vordringgen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verbringen" for "vordringen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbʁɪŋən] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌdʁɪŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verbringen" or "vordringen"?
"verbringen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,159 in our German list, against #26,679 for "vordringen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "verbringen" and "vordringen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verbringen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vordringen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,759,307 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbringen" and "vordringen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vordringen vs vorzudringen". 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 #1,759,307 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