Which to use
“vorgefallen” and “vorgehalten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,560
- “vorgefallen” frequency rank
- #27,561
- “vorgehalten” frequency rank
- 55121
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vorgefallen | vorgehalten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs vorfallen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs vorhalten |
Where the eye mixes vorgefallen and vorgehalten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. vorgefallen and vorgehalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between vorgefallen and vorgehalten
A purely visual mix-up. vorgefallen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ɡəˌfalən]) and vorgehalten ([ˈfoːɐ̯ɡəˌhaltn̩]) 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 55121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vorgefallen is recorded at frequency rank #27,560, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ɡəˌfalən]. vorgehalten is at rank #27,561, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ɡəˌhaltn̩].
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 55121, this pair ranks #991,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vorgefallen vs vorgehalten
Shared letters: aeglnorv. Private to "vorgefallen": f. Private to "vorgehalten": ht.
"vorgefallen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC · "vorgehalten" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vorgefallen ← ovrgefallen · vogrefallen · voregfallen · vorgeafllen · vorgefaleln · vorgefalen · vorgefallenn · vorgefallne
- vorgehalten ← ovrgehalten · vogrehalten · voreghalten · vorgeahlten · vorgehaletn · vorgehallten · vorgehaltenn · vorgehaltne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vorgefallen" for "vorgehalten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "vorgefallen" or "vorgehalten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "vorgefallen" and "vorgehalten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "vorgefallen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vorgehalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #991,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vorgefallen" and "vorgehalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vorgehalten vs vorgehaltener". 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 #991,955 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.