vorgehen
German, verb
vorgehen is spelled V-O-R-G-E-H-E-N (8 letters) and appears 28 times per million words in written German, the 2,961st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Vorgehen is a German verb meaning “to walk to the front (of a room or area)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Vorgehen is a different word: “proceeding”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich nach vorne bewegen”.
What does vorgehen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to walk to the front (of a room or area)
- 2
informalto go on ahead (in contrast to someone else temporarily staying behind)
Geh schonmal vor, ich komme auch gleich.
- 3
to take precedence, to have a higher priority (e.g. of ideals)
Sicherheit geht vor!
- 4
to go about a problem, to approach an issue (in a certain way, according to a specific strategy or guideline)
Wie wollen wir vorgehen?
- 5
to crack down on, to take steps
Die Regierung ging brutal gegen die Opposition vor.
- 6
to be going on, to be happening (in an internal or hidden location or situation)
sich fragen, was in den Köpfen solcher Leute vorgeht
- 7
to run fast (of a clock)
Die Uhr geht ein bisschen vor, wir müssen erst in fünf Minuten los.
noun
- 1
neuterproceeding
- 2
neuterprocedure
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich nach vorne bewegen 2. vor jemand anderem aufbrechen oder gehen 3. geschehen 4. etwas in einem bestimmten Ablauf tun
noun: 1. eine definierte Art und Weise zu handeln
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 vorgehen
- geht vor present singular third-person
- ging vor past
- vorgegangen participle past
- sein auxiliary
- 7 strong
- vorgehend participle present
- vorzugehen infinitive infinitive-zu
- gehe vor first-person indicative present
- gehen vor first-person indicative plural
- gehst vor indicative present second-person
- gehest vor second-person singular subjunctive
- gehet vor plural second-person subjunctive
- gingen vor first-person indicative plural
- ginge vor first-person singular subjunctive
- gingst vor indicative preterite second-person
- gingt vor indicative plural preterite
- gingest vor second-person singular subjunctive
- ginget vor plural second-person subjunctive
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to vorgehen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is vorgehen in German?
vorgehen appears 28 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).