vorlesen
German, verb
vorlesen is a German verb meaning “to read (aloud)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Vorlesen is a different word: “gerund of vorlesen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte wahrnehmen und sprachlich laut wiedergeben; laut lesen, so dass andere es…”.
What does vorlesen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to read (aloud)
Wenn ich nicht schlafen konnte, hat mein Vater mir immer Gutenachtgeschichten vorgelesen.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of vorlesen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte wahrnehmen und sprachlich laut wiedergeben; laut lesen, so dass andere es hören können
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of vorlesen
- liest vor present singular third-person
- las vor past
- vorgelesen participle past
- läse vor past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- 5 strong
- vorlesend participle present
- vorzulesen infinitive infinitive-zu
- lese vor first-person indicative present
- lesen vor first-person indicative plural
- lest vor indicative plural present
- lesest vor second-person singular subjunctive
- leset vor plural second-person subjunctive
- lasen vor first-person indicative plural
- läsen vor first-person formal plural
- lasest vor indicative preterite second-person
- last vor indicative preterite second-person
- läsest vor formal rare second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to vorlesen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is vorlesen in German?
vorlesen appears 5.0 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).