vollenvsvotenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vollen is a adjective, voten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vollen” is an adjective and “voten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,930
“vollen” frequency rank
#32,856
“voten” frequency rank
36786
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vollen voten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs voll abstimmen, wählen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vollen and voten apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
vollen
5 ch
voten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vollen is [ˈfɔlən] while voten is [ˈvoːtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vollen is recorded at frequency rank #3,930, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɔlən]. 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 36786, this pair ranks #1,606,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vollen vs voten

Shared letters: enov. Private to "vollen": l. Private to "voten": t.

"vollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "voten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vollenovllen · vlolen · voleln · volen · vollenn · vollne · vvollen
  • votenovten · voetn · votenn · votne · votten · vtoen · vvoten

Frequency comparison

vollen#3,930
voten#32,856

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vollen" and "voten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vollen" is an adjective and "voten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vollen" or "voten"?
"vollen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,930 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.

Remembering vollen vs voten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vollen”; for a verb, it's “voten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vollen” 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