Which to use
“verlosen” and “vorlesen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,842
- “verlosen” frequency rank
- #12,413
- “vorlesen” frequency rank
- 43255
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verlosen | vorlesen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen Preis austeilen, den diejenige Person gewinnt, die das richtige/gewinnende Los gezogen/erworben hat | Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte wahrnehmen und sprachlich laut wiedergeben; laut lesen, so dass andere es hören können |
Where the eye mixes verlosen and vorlesen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verlosen and vorlesen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verlosen and vorlesen
A purely visual mix-up. verlosen ([fɛɐ̯ˈloːzn̩]) and vorlesen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌleːzn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43255, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verlosen is recorded at frequency rank #30,842, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈloːzn̩]. vorlesen is at rank #12,413, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌleːzn̩].
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 43255, this pair ranks #1,423,858 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verlosen vs vorlesen
Shared letters: elnorsv. Private to "verlosen": -. Private to "vorlesen": -.
"verlosen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "vorlesen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verlosen" for "vorlesen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verlosen" or "vorlesen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verlosen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vorlesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,423,858 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verlosen" and "vorlesen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verlogene vs verlosen". 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 #1,423,858 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.