vorführenvsVorführungWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#24,189
“vorführen” frequency rank
#17,768
“Vorführung” frequency rank
41957
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vorführen Vorführung
Definition einem Publikum zeigen künstlerische Aufführung vor Publikum

Where the eye mixes vorführen and Vorführung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. vorführen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against Vorführung's 10 (CVCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
vorführen
10 ch
Vorführung

Visual trap between vorführen and Vorführung

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vorführen is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌfyːʁən] while Vorführung is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌfyːʁʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vorführen is recorded at frequency rank #24,189, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌfyːʁən]. Vorführung is at rank #17,768, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌfyːʁʊŋ].

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 41957, this pair ranks #1,463,904 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vorführen vs Vorführung

Shared letters: fhnorvü. Private to "vorführen": e. Private to "Vorführung": gu.

"vorführen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "Vorführung" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vorführen" and "Vorführung" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vorführen" is a verb and "Vorführung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vorführen" vs "Vorführung" - which ranks higher?
"Vorführung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,768 in our German list, against #24,189 for "vorführen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "vorführen" and "Vorführung" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vorführen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorführung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,463,904 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vorführen" and "Vorführung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vorführen vs vorzuführen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,463,904 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