vorderevsvorderenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,732
“vordere” frequency rank
#7,422
“vorderen” frequency rank
21154
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vordere vorderen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs vorder Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vorder

Where the eye mixes vordere and vorderen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. vordere runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against vorderen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
vordere
8 ch
vorderen

Why the eye confuses vordere with vorderen

A purely visual mix-up. vordere ([ˈfɔʁdəʁə]) and vorderen ([ˈfɔʁdəʁən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “vordere” sits inside “vorderen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21154, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vordere is recorded at frequency rank #13,732, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɔʁdəʁə]. vorderen is at rank #7,422, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɔʁdəʁən].

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 21154, this pair ranks #1,889,547 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vordere vs vorderen

Shared letters: deorv. Private to "vordere": -. Private to "vorderen": n.

"vordere" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "vorderen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vordere ← ovrdere · vodrere · vorddere · vordeer · vorderre · vordree · voredre · vorrdere
  • vorderen ← ovrderen · vodreren · vordderen · vordeern · vorderenn · vorderne · vorderren · vordreen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vordere" and "vorderen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɔʁdəʁə] versus [ˈfɔʁdəʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vordere" vs "vorderen" - which ranks higher?
"vorderen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,422 in our German list, against #13,732 for "vordere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vordere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorderen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,889,547 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vordere" and "vorderen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vordere vs Vorwerk". 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 #1,889,547 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