VorausvsVorhutTell them apart

Which to use

“Voraus” and “Vorhut” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,370
“Voraus” frequency rank
#45,675
“Vorhut” frequency rank
48045
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Voraus Vorhut
Definition Erbe (Nachlass), das vor Eintritt des Todes an den Erben übertragen wird kleiner Trupp Soldaten zur Erkundung/Sicherung des Vorfeldes einer Truppe

Where the eye mixes Voraus and Vorhut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Voraus (CVCVVC) and Vorhut (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Voraus
6 ch
Vorhut

Look-alike desk: Voraus vs Vorhut

A purely visual mix-up. Voraus ([foˈʁaʊ̯s]) and Vorhut ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhuːt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Voraus is recorded at frequency rank #2,370, classified as anoun, pronounced [foˈʁaʊ̯s]. Vorhut is at rank #45,675, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhuːt].

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 48045, this pair ranks #1,262,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Voraus vs Vorhut

Shared letters: oruv. Private to "Voraus": as. Private to "Vorhut": ht.

"Voraus" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "Vorhut" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Voraus ← ovraus · voarus · vorasu · vorauss · vorraus · voruas · vroaus · vvoraus
  • Vorhut ← ovrhut · vohrut · vorhhut · vorhtu · vorhutt · vorrhut · voruht · vrohut

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Voraus" for "Vorhut" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([foˈʁaʊ̯s] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhuːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Voraus" vs "Vorhut" - which ranks higher?
"Voraus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,370 in our German list, against #45,675 for "Vorhut". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Voraus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorhut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,262,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Voraus" and "Vorhut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vorhof vs Vorhut". 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 #1,262,816 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list