VerlagenvsVorlagenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,177
“Verlagen” frequency rank
#9,117
“Vorlagen” frequency rank
33294
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Verlagen Vorlagen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Verlag Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Vorlage

Where the eye mixes Verlagen and Vorlagen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Verlagen and Vorlagen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
Verlagen
8 ch
Vorlagen

Visual trap between Verlagen and Vorlagen

A purely visual mix-up. Verlagen ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaːɡn̩]) and Vorlagen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌlaːɡn̩]) 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 “Verlagen” becomes o in “Vorlagen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33294, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Verlagen is recorded at frequency rank #24,177, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaːɡn̩]. Vorlagen is at rank #9,117, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌlaːɡn̩].

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 33294, this pair ranks #1,689,093 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Verlagen vs Vorlagen

Shared letters: aeglnrv. Private to "Verlagen": -. Private to "Vorlagen": o.

"Verlagen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "Vorlagen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Verlagenevrlagen · velragen · veralgen · verlaegn · verlagenn · verlaggen · verlgaen · verllagen
  • Vorlagenovrlagen · volragen · voralgen · vorlaegn · vorlagenn · vorlaggen · vorlagne · vorlgaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Verlagen" and "Vorlagen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaːɡn̩] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌlaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Verlagen" or "Vorlagen"?
"Vorlagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,117 in our German list, against #24,177 for "Verlagen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Verlagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorlagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,689,093 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Verlagen" and "Vorlagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vergaben vs Verlagen". 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 #1,689,093 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