versusvsVorausConfusable pair

Quick tell: versus is a preposition, Voraus is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“versus” is a preposition and “Voraus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,871
“versus” frequency rank
#2,370
“Voraus” frequency rank
19241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature versus Voraus
Definition gegen, im Gegensatz zu Erbe (Nachlass), das vor Eintritt des Todes an den Erben übertragen wird

Where the eye mixes versus and Voraus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
versus
6 ch
Voraus

Visual trap between versus and Voraus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: versus is [ˈvɛʁzʊs] while Voraus is [foˈʁaʊ̯s]. 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 (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

versus is recorded at frequency rank #16,871, classified as aprep, pronounced [ˈvɛʁzʊs]. Voraus is at rank #2,370, tagged as anoun, pronounced [foˈʁaʊ̯s].

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 19241, this pair ranks #1,910,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of versus vs Voraus

Shared letters: rsuv. Private to "versus": e. Private to "Voraus": ao.

"versus" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Voraus" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • versusevrsus · verrsus · verssu · verssus · versuss · veruss · vesrus · vresus
  • Vorausovraus · voarus · vorasu · vorauss · vorraus · voruas · vroaus · vvoraus

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "versus" and "Voraus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "versus" is a preposition and "Voraus" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "versus" or "Voraus"?
"Voraus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,370 in our German list, against #16,871 for "versus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "versus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Voraus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,910,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "versus" and "Voraus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verruf vs versus". 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 #1,910,408 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