Which to use
“vorgehen” and “vornehmen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,006
- “vorgehen” frequency rank
- #7,130
- “vornehmen” frequency rank
- 10136
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vorgehen | vornehmen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich nach vorne bewegen | etwas selbst ausführen oder stattfinden lassen |
Where the eye mixes vorgehen and vornehmen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between vorgehen and vornehmen
A purely visual mix-up. vorgehen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːən]) and vornehmen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌneːmən]) 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 10136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vorgehen is recorded at frequency rank #3,006, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡeːən]. vornehmen is at rank #7,130, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌneːmən].
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 10136, this pair ranks #1,976,607 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vorgehen vs vornehmen
Shared letters: ehnorv. Private to "vorgehen": g. Private to "vornehmen": m.
"vorgehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "vornehmen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vorgehen" and "vornehmen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "vorgehen" or "vornehmen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vorgehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vornehmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,976,607 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vorgehen" and "vornehmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vogesen vs vorgehen". 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 #1,976,607 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.