vorigevsVorlageTell them apart

Quick tell: vorige is a adjective, Vorlage is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vorige” is an adjective and “Vorlage” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,562
“vorige” frequency rank
#4,011
“Vorlage” frequency rank
31573
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vorige Vorlage
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vorig Hilfsmittel zur Erstellung ähnlicher Stücke (materiell oder informationstechnisch)

Where the eye mixes vorige and Vorlage

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. vorige runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against Vorlage's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
vorige
7 ch
Vorlage

Look-alike desk: vorige vs Vorlage

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vorige is [ˈfoːʁɪɡə] while Vorlage is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌlaːɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31573, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vorige is recorded at frequency rank #27,562, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfoːʁɪɡə]. Vorlage is at rank #4,011, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌlaːɡə].

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 31573, this pair ranks #1,725,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vorige vs Vorlage

Shared letters: egorv. Private to "vorige": i. Private to "Vorlage": al.

"vorige" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "Vorlage" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vorige ← ovrige · voirge · vorgie · vorieg · vorigge · vorrige · vroige · vvorige
  • Vorlage ← ovrlage · volrage · voralge · vorlaeg · vorlagge · vorlgae · vorllage · vorrlage

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vorige" and "Vorlage" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vorige" is an adjective and "Vorlage" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vorige" or "Vorlage"?
"Vorlage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,011 in our German list, against #27,562 for "vorige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "vorige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorlage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,725,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vorige" and "Vorlage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vorige vs voriges". 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 #1,725,383 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