vorzugehenvsvorzulesenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,456
“vorzugehen” frequency rank
#48,611
“vorzulesen” frequency rank
63067
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vorzugehen vorzulesen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs vorgehen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs vorlesen

Where the eye mixes vorzugehen and vorzulesen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. vorzugehen and vorzulesen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
vorzugehen
10 ch
vorzulesen

Look-alike desk: vorzugehen vs vorzulesen

A purely visual mix-up. vorzugehen ([ˈfoːɐ̯t͡suˌɡeːən]) and vorzulesen ([ˈfoːɐ̯t͡suˌleːzn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vorzugehen is recorded at frequency rank #14,456, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯t͡suˌɡeːən]. vorzulesen is at rank #48,611, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯t͡suˌleːzn̩].

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 63067, this pair ranks #690,044 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vorzugehen vs vorzulesen

Shared letters: enoruvz. Private to "vorzugehen": gh. Private to "vorzulesen": ls.

"vorzugehen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC  ·  "vorzulesen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vorzugehenovrzugehen · vorrzugehen · voruzgehen · vorzguehen · vorzueghen · vorzugeehn · vorzugehenn · vorzugehhen
  • vorzulesenovrzulesen · vorrzulesen · voruzlesen · vorzluesen · vorzuelsen · vorzuleesn · vorzulesenn · vorzulesne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vorzugehen" for "vorzulesen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfoːɐ̯t͡suˌɡeːən] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯t͡suˌleːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "vorzugehen" or "vorzulesen" show up more?
"vorzugehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,456 in our German list, against #48,611 for "vorzulesen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vorzugehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorzulesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #690,044 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vorzugehen" and "vorzulesen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vorzulesen vs vorzuweisen". 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 #690,044 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