vorgebenvsvorsehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,475
“vorgeben” frequency rank
#29,855
“vorsehen” frequency rank
51330
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vorgeben vorsehen
Definition eine Unwahrheit äußern und damit nur so tun als ob hinter oder unter etwas hervorschauen

Where the eye mixes vorgeben and vorsehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. vorgeben and vorsehen 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
vorsehen

Visual trap between vorgeben and vorsehen

A purely visual mix-up. vorgeben ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːbn̩]) and vorsehen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌzeːən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51330, 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]. vorsehen is at rank #29,855, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌzeːən].

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 51330, this pair ranks #1,139,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vorgeben vs vorsehen

Shared letters: enorv. Private to "vorgeben": bg. Private to "vorsehen": hs.

"vorgeben" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "vorsehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vorgebenovrgeben · vogreben · voregben · vorgbeen · vorgebben · vorgebenn · vorgebne · vorgeebn
  • vorsehenovrsehen · voreshen · vorrsehen · vorseehn · vorsehenn · vorsehhen · vorsehne · vorsheen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vorgeben" for "vorsehen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːbn̩] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌzeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vorgeben" vs "vorsehen" - which ranks higher?
"vorgeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,475 in our German list, against #29,855 for "vorsehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vorgeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorsehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,139,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vorgeben" and "vorsehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vorgehens vs vorsehen". 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 #1,139,612 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