Which to use
“von” is a preposition and “voran” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11
- “von” frequency rank
- #3,694
- “voran” frequency rank
- 3705
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | von | voran |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ursprung räumlicher oder zeitlicher Veränderung, Herkunft, Gegenstand der Betrachtung, Ursache, sonstige Verhältnisse | vor jemand oder etwas anderem, an der Spitze |
Where the eye mixes von and voran
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: von vs voran
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: von is [fɔn] while voran is [foˈʁan]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
von is recorded at frequency rank #11, classified as aprep, pronounced [fɔn]. voran is at rank #3,694, tagged as anadv, pronounced [foˈʁan].
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 3705, this pair ranks #1,999,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of von vs voran
Shared letters: nov. Private to "von": -. Private to "voran": ar.
"von" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "voran" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- voran ← ovran · voarn · vorann · vorna · vorran · vroan · vvoran
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "von" for "voran" ever safe?
Frequency check: "von" vs "voran" - which ranks higher?
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 "voran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,999,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "von" and "voran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "voran vs Vorbau". 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 #1,999,583 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.