Which to use
“von” and “voor” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11
- “von” frequency rank
- #47,106
- “voor” frequency rank
- 47117
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | von | voor |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ursprung räumlicher oder zeitlicher Veränderung, Herkunft, Gegenstand der Betrachtung, Ursache, sonstige Verhältnisse | gibt eine zeitliche/örtliche Reihenfolge an |
Where the eye mixes von and voor
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses von with voor
A purely visual mix-up. von ([fɔn]) and voor ([voːr]) 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 47117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
von is recorded at frequency rank #11, classified as aprep, pronounced [fɔn]. 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 47117, this pair ranks #1,295,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of von vs voor
Shared letters: ov. Private to "von": n. Private to "voor": r.
"von" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "voor" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- voor ← ovor · voorr · voro · vvoor
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "von" and "voor" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "von" or "voor"?
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 "von" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "voor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,295,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "von" and "voor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "voip vs voor". 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 #1,295,591 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.