Which to use
“Vernehmen” is a noun and “vornehmen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,974
- “Vernehmen” frequency rank
- #7,130
- “vornehmen” frequency rank
- 21104
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Vernehmen | vornehmen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vorgang, etwas von anderen zu erfahren | etwas selbst ausführen oder stattfinden lassen |
Where the eye mixes Vernehmen and vornehmen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Vernehmen and vornehmen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Vernehmen is [fɛɐ̯ˈneːmən] while vornehmen is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌneːmən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “Vernehmen” becomes o in “vornehmen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21104, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Vernehmen is recorded at frequency rank #13,974, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈneːmən]. vornehmen is at rank #7,130, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌneːmən].
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 21104, this pair ranks #1,890,122 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Vernehmen vs vornehmen
Shared letters: ehmnrv. Private to "Vernehmen": -. Private to "vornehmen": o.
"Vernehmen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "vornehmen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Vernehmen" and "vornehmen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Vernehmen" or "vornehmen" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Vernehmen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vornehmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,890,122 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Vernehmen" and "vornehmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vernehmen vs vornehme". 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 #1,890,122 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.