Which to use
“vorgeben” is a verb and “Vorhaben” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,475
- “vorgeben” frequency rank
- #4,575
- “Vorhaben” frequency rank
- 26050
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vorgeben | Vorhaben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Unwahrheit äußern und damit nur so tun als ob | das, was verwirklicht werden soll |
Where the eye mixes vorgeben and Vorhaben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. vorgeben and Vorhaben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: vorgeben vs Vorhaben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vorgeben is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːbn̩] while Vorhaben is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhaːbn̩]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26050, 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]. Vorhaben is at rank #4,575, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhaːbn̩].
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 26050, this pair ranks #1,823,962 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vorgeben vs Vorhaben
Shared letters: benorv. Private to "vorgeben": g. Private to "Vorhaben": ah.
"vorgeben" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "Vorhaben" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vorgeben" and "Vorhaben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "vorgeben" or "Vorhaben" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vorgeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Vorhaben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,823,962 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vorgeben" and "Vorhaben" 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 #1,823,962 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.