Which to use
“vornahm” is a verb and “vornehm” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,609
- “vornahm” frequency rank
- #33,896
- “vornehm” frequency rank
- 82505
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vornahm | vornehm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs vornehmen | dem äußeren Erscheinungsbild nach höheren, besser gestellten gesellschaftlichen Kreisen zugehörig, in der Art und Weise dieser Kreise oder sich auf diese Kreise beziehend, von besonderer Feinheit und Feinfühligkeit oder sich durch andere positive Eigenschaften auszeichnend |
Where the eye mixes vornahm and vornehm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. vornahm and vornehm follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses vornahm with vornehm
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vornahm is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌnaːm] while vornehm is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌneːm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “vornahm” becomes e in “vornehm”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82505, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vornahm is recorded at frequency rank #48,609, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌnaːm]. vornehm is at rank #33,896, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌneːm].
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 82505, this pair ranks #156,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vornahm vs vornehm
Shared letters: hmnorv. Private to "vornahm": a. Private to "vornehm": e.
"vornahm" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "vornehm" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vornahm" for "vornehm" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vornahm" vs "vornehm" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vornahm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vornehm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #156,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vornahm" and "vornehm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vornahm vs vorsah". 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 #156,064 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.