versprechevsvorsprechenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,457
“verspreche” frequency rank
#49,367
“vorsprechen” frequency rank
69824
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verspreche vorsprechen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs versprechen (eine höhergestellte Person, die etwas zu sagen hat) besuchen und um etwas bitten

Where the eye mixes verspreche and vorsprechen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
verspreche
11 ch
vorsprechen

Visual trap between verspreche and vorsprechen

A purely visual mix-up. verspreche ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃpʁɛçə]) and vorsprechen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʃpʁɛçn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69824, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verspreche is recorded at frequency rank #20,457, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃpʁɛçə]. vorsprechen is at rank #49,367, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʃpʁɛçn̩].

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 69824, this pair ranks #464,836 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verspreche vs vorsprechen

Shared letters: cehprsv. Private to "verspreche": -. Private to "vorsprechen": no.

"verspreche" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCV  ·  "vorsprechen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • versprecheevrspreche · verpsreche · verrspreche · versperche · versppreche · versprcehe · versprecche · verspreceh
  • vorsprechenovrsprechen · vorpsrechen · vorrsprechen · vorsperchen · vorspprechen · vorsprcehen · vorsprecchen · vorsprecehn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verspreche" and "vorsprechen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃpʁɛçə] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌʃpʁɛçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verspreche" vs "vorsprechen" - which ranks higher?
"verspreche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,457 in our German list, against #49,367 for "vorsprechen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verspreche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorsprechen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #464,836 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verspreche" and "vorsprechen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "versprachen vs vorsprechen". 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 #464,836 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