VorgängervsVorhängeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,130
“Vorgänger” frequency rank
#18,755
“Vorhänge” frequency rank
23885
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vorgänger Vorhänge
Definition Person, die jemandes Amt, Stellung oder Ähnliches zuvor innehatte Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Vorhang

Where the eye mixes Vorgänger and Vorhänge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Vorgänger runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against Vorhänge's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Vorgänger
8 ch
Vorhänge

Visual trap between Vorgänger and Vorhänge

A purely visual mix-up. Vorgänger ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡɛŋɐ]) and Vorhänge ([ˈfoːɐ̯hɛŋə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vorgänger is recorded at frequency rank #5,130, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡɛŋɐ]. Vorhänge is at rank #18,755, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯hɛŋə].

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 23885, this pair ranks #1,855,306 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Vorgänger vs Vorhänge

Shared letters: egnorvä. Private to "Vorgänger": -. Private to "Vorhänge": h.

"Vorgänger" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "Vorhänge" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Vorgänger" and "Vorhänge" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡɛŋɐ] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯hɛŋə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Vorgänger" vs "Vorhänge" - which ranks higher?
"Vorgänger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,130 in our German list, against #18,755 for "Vorhänge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorgänger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorhänge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,855,306 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vorgänger" and "Vorhänge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vorgangs vs Vorhänge". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,855,306 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