Which to use
“vor” is a preposition and “vors” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #64
- “vor” frequency rank
- #16,042
- “vors” frequency rank
- 16106
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vor | vors |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | früher, eher | vor das |
Where the eye mixes vor and vors
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: vor vs vors
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vor is [foːɐ̯] while vors is [foːɐ̯s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “vor” sits inside “vors”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vor is recorded at frequency rank #64, classified as aprep, pronounced [foːɐ̯]. vors is at rank #16,042, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [foːɐ̯s].
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 16106, this pair ranks #1,938,545 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vor vs vors
Shared letters: orv. Private to "vor": -. Private to "vors": s.
"vor" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "vors" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vors ← ovrs · vorrs · vorss · vosr · vros · vvors
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vor" for "vors" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vor" or "vors"?
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 "vor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vors" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,938,545 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vor" and "vors" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "voip vs vors". 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 #1,938,545 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.