VorscheinvsvorsehenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Vorschein is a noun, vorsehen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Vorschein” is a noun and “vorsehen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,321
“Vorschein” frequency rank
#29,855
“vorsehen” frequency rank
46176
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vorschein vorsehen
Definition Präsenz vor aller Augen (fast nur in der Kombination mit den Verben bringen: hervorziehen und zeigen, sichtbar machenoder kommen, treten und gelangen:hervorkommen und sich zeigen, sichtbar werden) hinter oder unter etwas hervorschauen

Where the eye mixes Vorschein and vorsehen

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

9 ch
Vorschein
8 ch
vorsehen

Visual trap between Vorschein and vorsehen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Vorschein is [ˈfoːɐ̯ʃaɪ̯n] while vorsehen is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌzeːən]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vorschein is recorded at frequency rank #16,321, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ʃaɪ̯n]. 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 46176, this pair ranks #1,327,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Vorschein vs vorsehen

Shared letters: ehnorsv. Private to "Vorschein": ci. Private to "vorsehen": -.

"Vorschein" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVVC  ·  "vorsehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vorscheinovrschein · vorcshein · vorrschein · vorscchein · vorscehin · vorscheinn · vorscheni · vorschhein
  • vorsehenovrsehen · voreshen · vorrsehen · vorseehn · vorsehenn · vorsehhen · vorsehne · vorsheen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Vorschein" and "vorsehen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Vorschein" is a noun and "vorsehen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Vorschein" or "vorsehen" show up more?
"Vorschein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,321 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorschein" 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 #1,327,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vorschein" 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 #1,327,955 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