vocalsvsVorausWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#44,343
“vocals” frequency rank
#2,370
“Voraus” frequency rank
46713
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vocals Voraus
Definition Plural des Substantivs vocal Erbe (Nachlass), das vor Eintritt des Todes an den Erben übertragen wird

Where the eye mixes vocals and Voraus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vocals (CVCVCC) and Voraus (CVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
vocals
6 ch
Voraus

Visual trap between vocals and Voraus

A purely visual mix-up. vocals ([buˈkaɫs]) and Voraus ([foˈʁaʊ̯s]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vocals is recorded at frequency rank #44,343, classified as anoun, pronounced [buˈkaɫs]. 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 46713, this pair ranks #1,309,588 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vocals vs Voraus

Shared letters: aosv. Private to "vocals": cl. Private to "Voraus": ru.

"vocals" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Voraus" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vocals ← ovcals · vcoals · voacls · vocalls · vocalss · vocasl · voccals · voclas
  • Voraus ← ovraus · voarus · vorasu · vorauss · vorraus · voruas · vroaus · vvoraus

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vocals" for "Voraus" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([buˈkaɫs] versus [foˈʁaʊ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vocals" vs "Voraus" - which ranks higher?
"Voraus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,370 in our German list, against #44,343 for "vocals". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vocals" 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 #1,309,588 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vocals" and "Voraus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vocal vs vocals". 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 #1,309,588 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