Which to use
“verlängern” is a verb and “Vorgängern” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,289
- “verlängern” frequency rank
- #29,853
- “Vorgängern” frequency rank
- 39142
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verlängern | Vorgängern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas (räumlich) länger machen; die (räumliche) Ausdehnung von etwas erhöhen | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Vorgänger |
Where the eye mixes verlängern and Vorgängern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verlängern and Vorgängern follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verlängern and Vorgängern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verlängern is [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐn] while Vorgängern is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡɛŋɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39142, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verlängern is recorded at frequency rank #9,289, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐn]. Vorgängern is at rank #29,853, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡɛŋɐn].
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 39142, this pair ranks #1,544,981 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verlängern vs Vorgängern
Shared letters: egnrvä. Private to "verlängern": l. Private to "Vorgängern": o.
"verlängern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC · "Vorgängern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verlängern" and "Vorgängern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "verlängern" or "Vorgängern"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "verlängern" and "Vorgängern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verlängern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Vorgängern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,544,981 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verlängern" and "Vorgängern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vorgängerin vs Vorgängern". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,544,981 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.