verreckenvsvorrückenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,825
“verrecken” frequency rank
#30,377
“vorrücken” frequency rank
52202
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verrecken vorrücken
Definition sterben ein Stück vorwärts kommen; in Richtung des Feindes marschieren

Where the eye mixes verrecken and vorrücken

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

9 ch
verrecken
9 ch
vorrücken

Look-alike desk: verrecken vs vorrücken

A purely visual mix-up. verrecken ([fɛɐ̯ˈʁɛkn̩]) and vorrücken ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʁʏkn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52202, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verrecken is recorded at frequency rank #21,825, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʁɛkn̩]. vorrücken is at rank #30,377, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʁʏkn̩].

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 52202, this pair ranks #1,106,093 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verrecken vs vorrücken

Shared letters: ceknrv. Private to "verrecken": -. Private to "vorrücken": oü.

"verrecken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vorrücken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verrecken ← evrrecken · verecken · verercken · verrceken · verreccken · verrecekn · verreckenn · verreckken

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verrecken" for "vorrücken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʁɛkn̩] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʁʏkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verrecken" or "vorrücken"?
"verrecken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,825 in our German list, against #30,377 for "vorrücken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verrecken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorrücken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,106,093 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verrecken" and "vorrücken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verrechnen vs verrecken". 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 #1,106,093 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