vonvsvosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: von is a preposition, vos is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“von” is a preposition and “vos” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11
“von” frequency rank
#39,125
“vos” frequency rank
39136
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature von vos
Definition Ursprung räumlicher oder zeitlicher Veränderung, Herkunft, Gegenstand der Betrachtung, Ursache, sonstige Verhältnisse Eure, Ihre

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set von and vos apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
von
3 ch
vos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

von and vos form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - n in “von” becomes s in “vos” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

von is recorded at frequency rank #11, classified as aprep, pronounced [fɔn]. vos is at rank #39,125, tagged as anadj, pronounced [vo].

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 39136, this pair ranks #1,545,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

von#11
vos#39,125

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "von" and "vos" be used interchangeably?
No, "von" and "vos" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering von vs vos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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