viervsvoorWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vier is a num, voor is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vier” is a num and “voor” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#328
“vier” frequency rank
#47,106
“voor” frequency rank
47434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vier voor
Definition die Kardinalzahl zwischen drei und fünf gibt eine zeitliche/örtliche Reihenfolge an

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vier and voor apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
vier
4 ch
voor

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

vier and voor form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vier is recorded at frequency rank #328, classified as anum, pronounced [fiːɐ̯]. voor is at rank #47,106, tagged as aprep, pronounced [voːr].

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 47434, this pair ranks #1,284,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

vier#328
voor#47,106

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vier" and "voor" be used interchangeably?
No, "vier" and "voor" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering vier vs voor

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a num, it's “vier”; for a preposition, it's “voor”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vier” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list