von
German, preposition/fɔn/
von is spelled V-O-N (3 letters) and appears 9,772 times per million words in written German, the 11th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Von is a German preposition meaning “from” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “Ursprung räumlicher oder zeitlicher Veränderung, Herkunft, Gegenstand der Betrachtung, Ursache, sonstige…”.
What does von mean in English?
preposition
- 1
from
Ich fahre von Köln nach Hamburg.
- 2
of, belonging to (often replacing genitive; see usage note below)
das Auto meines Vaters
- 3
by; denotes the agent in passive voice
Das Hotel wird von der Firma bezahlt.
- 4
about, of (a topic)
Er hat von seiner Jugend erzählt.
- 5
on, with (a resource)
Von welchem Geld soll ich als Arbeitsloser in Urlaub fahren?
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
preposition: 1. Ursprung räumlicher oder zeitlicher Veränderung, Herkunft, Gegenstand der Betrachtung, Ursache, sonstige Verhältnisse 2. getrennt stehender Namenszusatz vor Familiennamen (insbesondere des ehemaligen Adels) und Adelsprädikat (bei Namen adeliger Personen)
noun: 1. Adliger, Adlige
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 von
- wovon error-unrecognized-form
- davon error-unrecognized-form
- hiervon error-unrecognized-form
- v. alternative abbreviation
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce von?
- /fɔn/
- [fɔn]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to von
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is von in German?
von appears 9,772 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).