vorigenvsVorlagenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,484
“vorigen” frequency rank
#9,117
“Vorlagen” frequency rank
18601
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vorigen Vorlagen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs vorig Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Vorlage

Where the eye mixes vorigen and Vorlagen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. vorigen runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against Vorlagen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
vorigen
8 ch
Vorlagen

Why the eye confuses vorigen with Vorlagen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vorigen is [ˈfoːʁɪɡn̩] while Vorlagen is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌlaːɡn̩]. 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 18601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vorigen is recorded at frequency rank #9,484, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfoːʁɪɡn̩]. Vorlagen is at rank #9,117, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌlaːɡn̩].

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 18601, this pair ranks #1,916,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vorigen vs Vorlagen

Shared letters: egnorv. Private to "vorigen": i. Private to "Vorlagen": al.

"vorigen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "Vorlagen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vorigenovrigen · voirgen · vorgien · voriegn · vorigenn · voriggen · vorigne · vorrigen
  • Vorlagenovrlagen · volragen · voralgen · vorlaegn · vorlagenn · vorlaggen · vorlagne · vorlgaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vorigen" for "Vorlagen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vorigen" is an adjective and "Vorlagen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vorigen" vs "Vorlagen" - which ranks higher?
"Vorlagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,117 in our German list, against #9,484 for "vorigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "vorigen" and "Vorlagen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vorigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorlagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,916,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vorigen" and "Vorlagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vorigen vs Vorzügen". 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 #1,916,702 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