vornehmenvsvorsehenConfusable pair

Which to use

“vornehmen” and “vorsehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,130
“vornehmen” frequency rank
#29,855
“vorsehen” frequency rank
36985
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vornehmen vorsehen
Definition etwas selbst ausführen oder stattfinden lassen hinter oder unter etwas hervorschauen

Where the eye mixes vornehmen and vorsehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. vornehmen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against vorsehen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
vornehmen
8 ch
vorsehen

Why the eye confuses vornehmen with vorsehen

A purely visual mix-up. vornehmen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌneːmən]) and vorsehen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌzeːən]) 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 36985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vornehmen is recorded at frequency rank #7,130, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌneːmən]. vorsehen is at rank #29,855, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌzeːən].

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 36985, this pair ranks #1,601,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vornehmen vs vorsehen

Shared letters: ehnorv. Private to "vornehmen": m. Private to "vorsehen": s.

"vornehmen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vorsehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vornehmenovrnehmen · vonrehmen · vorenhmen · vornehemn · vornehhmen · vornehmenn · vornehmmen · vornehmne
  • vorsehenovrsehen · voreshen · vorrsehen · vorseehn · vorsehenn · vorsehhen · vorsehne · vorsheen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vornehmen" and "vorsehen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌneːmən] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌzeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vornehmen" vs "vorsehen" - which ranks higher?
"vornehmen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,130 in our German list, against #29,855 for "vorsehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vornehmen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorsehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,601,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vornehmen" and "vorsehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vorgehens vs vorsehen". 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 #1,601,719 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