vorgebenvsvorgehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,475
“vorgeben” frequency rank
#3,006
“vorgehen” frequency rank
24481
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vorgeben vorgehen
Definition eine Unwahrheit äußern und damit nur so tun als ob sich nach vorne bewegen

Where the eye mixes vorgeben and vorgehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. vorgeben and vorgehen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
vorgeben
8 ch
vorgehen

Look-alike desk: vorgeben vs vorgehen

A purely visual mix-up. vorgeben ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːbn̩]) and vorgehen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːən]) 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 a single letter - b in “vorgeben” becomes h in “vorgehen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24481, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vorgeben is recorded at frequency rank #21,475, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːbn̩]. vorgehen is at rank #3,006, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːən].

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 24481, this pair ranks #1,846,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vorgeben vs vorgehen

Shared letters: egnorv. Private to "vorgeben": b. Private to "vorgehen": h.

"vorgeben" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "vorgehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vorgeben ← ovrgeben · vogreben · voregben · vorgbeen · vorgebben · vorgebenn · vorgebne · vorgeebn
  • vorgehen ← ovrgehen · vogrehen · voreghen · vorgeehn · vorgehenn · vorgehhen · vorgehne · vorggehen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vorgeben" and "vorgehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːbn̩] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vorgeben" or "vorgehen"?
"vorgehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,006 in our German list, against #21,475 for "vorgeben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vorgeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorgehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,846,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vorgeben" and "vorgehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vogesen vs vorgeben". 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 #1,846,993 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