vinvsvorWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vin is a verb, vor is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vin” is a verb and “vor” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,407
“vin” frequency rank
#64
“vor” frequency rank
29471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vin vor
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs vij „(an)kommen“ früher, eher

Letter map: vin vs vor

Shared letters muted; letters that set vin and vor apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
vin
3 ch
vor

Role in the sentence - vin and vor

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: vin is averb and vorapreposition. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vin is recorded at frequency rank #29,407, classified as averb, pronounced […]. vor is at rank #64, tagged as aprep, pronounced [foːɐ̯].

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 29471, this pair ranks #1,766,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vin vs vor

Shared letters: v. Private to "vin": in. Private to "vor": or.

"vin" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "vor" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vin" and "vor" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vin" is a verb and "vor" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vin" vs "vor" - which ranks higher?
"vor" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #64 in our German list, against #29,407 for "vin". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "vin" and "vor".

  • Full dictionary entry for "vin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,766,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vin" and "vor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs vin". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,766,207 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