vögelnvsvotenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,967
“vögeln” frequency rank
#32,856
“voten” frequency rank
41823
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vögeln voten
Definition den Geschlechtsakt vollziehen abstimmen, wählen

Where the eye mixes vögeln and voten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. vögeln runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against voten's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
vögeln
5 ch
voten

Why the eye confuses vögeln with voten

A purely visual mix-up. vögeln ([ˈføːɡl̩n]) and voten ([ˈvoːtn̩]) 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 41823, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vögeln is recorded at frequency rank #8,967, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈføːɡl̩n]. voten is at rank #32,856, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvoːtn̩].

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 41823, this pair ranks #1,467,985 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vögeln vs voten

Shared letters: env. Private to "vögeln": glö. Private to "voten": ot.

"vögeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "voten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • voten ← ovten · voetn · votenn · votne · votten · vtoen · vvoten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vögeln" for "voten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈføːɡl̩n] versus [ˈvoːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vögeln" vs "voten" - which ranks higher?
"vögeln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,967 in our German list, against #32,856 for "voten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vögeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "voten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,467,985 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vögeln" and "voten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Velten vs voten". 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 #1,467,985 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