VorbauvsvorhatTell them apart

Quick tell: Vorbau is a noun, vorhat is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Vorbau” is a noun and “vorhat” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,107
“Vorbau” frequency rank
#30,859
“vorhat” frequency rank
77966
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vorbau vorhat
Definition Gebäudeteil, der aus dem eigentlichen Kerngebäude herausragt 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs vorhaben

Where the eye mixes Vorbau and vorhat

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

6 ch
Vorbau
6 ch
vorhat

Visual trap between Vorbau and vorhat

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Vorbau is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌbaʊ̯] while vorhat is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhat]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vorbau is recorded at frequency rank #47,107, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌbaʊ̯]. vorhat is at rank #30,859, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhat].

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 77966, this pair ranks #248,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Vorbau vs vorhat

Shared letters: aorv. Private to "Vorbau": bu. Private to "vorhat": ht.

"Vorbau" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "vorhat" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vorbauovrbau · vobrau · vorabu · vorbbau · vorbua · vorrbau · vrobau · vvorbau
  • vorhatovrhat · vohrat · voraht · vorhatt · vorhhat · vorhta · vorrhat · vrohat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Vorbau" and "vorhat" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Vorbau" is a noun and "vorhat" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Vorbau" or "vorhat"?
"vorhat" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,859 in our German list, against #47,107 for "Vorbau". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Vorbau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorhat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #248,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vorbau" and "vorhat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vorbau vs vorsah". 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 #248,809 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