VertragvsVortagWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,172
“Vertrag” frequency rank
#16,043
“Vortag” frequency rank
17215
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vertrag Vortag
Definition rechtlich bindende Vereinbarung zwischen mindestens zwei verschiedenen Partnern der Tag, der vor einem bestimmten Tag liegt; der vorangegangene Tag

Where the eye mixes Vertrag and Vortag

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Vertrag
6 ch
Vortag

Visual trap between Vertrag and Vortag

A purely visual mix-up. Vertrag ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːk]) and Vortag ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌtaːk]) 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 17215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vertrag is recorded at frequency rank #1,172, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːk]. Vortag is at rank #16,043, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌtaːk].

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 17215, this pair ranks #1,929,352 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Vertrag vs Vortag

Shared letters: agrtv. Private to "Vertrag": e. Private to "Vortag": o.

"Vertrag" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Vortag" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vertragevrtrag · verrtag · verrtrag · vertarg · vertragg · vertrga · vertrrag · verttrag
  • Vortagovrtag · voratg · vortagg · vortga · vorttag · votrag · vrotag · vvortag

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Vertrag" and "Vortag" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːk] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌtaːk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Vertrag" or "Vortag" show up more?
"Vertrag" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,172 in our German list, against #16,043 for "Vortag". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vertrag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vortag" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,929,352 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vertrag" and "Vortag" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vorbau vs Vortag". 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 #1,929,352 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