verführenvsvorführenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,860
“verführen” frequency rank
#24,189
“vorführen” frequency rank
41049
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verführen vorführen
Definition an einen anderen Ort führen einem Publikum zeigen

Where the eye mixes verführen and vorführen

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

9 ch
verführen
9 ch
vorführen

Why the eye confuses verführen with vorführen

A purely visual mix-up. verführen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfyːʁən]) and vorführen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌfyːʁən]) 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 “verführen” becomes o in “vorführen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41049, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verführen is recorded at frequency rank #16,860, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfyːʁən]. vorführen is at rank #24,189, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌfyːʁən].

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 41049, this pair ranks #1,490,819 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verführen vs vorführen

Shared letters: efhnrvü. Private to "verführen": -. Private to "vorführen": o.

"verführen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vorführen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verführen" and "vorführen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfyːʁən] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌfyːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verführen" or "vorführen" show up more?
"verführen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,860 in our German list, against #24,189 for "vorführen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verführen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorführen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,490,819 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verführen" and "vorführen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vorführen vs vorzuführen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,490,819 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