Dictionary > vor verbs

Here's a quick overview with translations. For family, examples and more check the details.

(her)vorgucken
(vor verb)
hat vorgeguckt
guckte vor

1.
to peek out, to stick out

(An object peeking out from a cover. Think of a unicorn trying to hide behind a bush, but the horn sticks out.)

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(her)vorholen
(vor verb)
hat vorgeholt
holte vor

1.
to bring out, to take out

(Take out something you had in your pockets (or personality). "hervorholen" is more probably a bit more common.)

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hervorbringen
(vor verb)
hat hervorgebracht
brachte hervor

1.
to give birth to, to beget, to bring into the world

(NOT for actual giving birth. Think of a university creating several famous composers.)

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hervorgehen (aus)

(vor verb)
ist hervorgegangen
ging hervor

1.
to come from

(in sense of emerging)

2.
say, show

(For texts and images. It's important to note that German is reversed here. The message "comes out from" the book or the image.)

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hervorkommen
(vor verb)
ist hervorgekommen
kam hervor

1.
to come out from

(In the sense of coming out from some sort of shelter or hiding. In every day German, "rauskommen" is much more common.)

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hervorrufen

(vor verb)
hat hervorgerufen
rief hervor

1.
to cause

(IN the sense of "making appear". "calling into the world". A good example are allergies.)

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vorbereiten (auf)
(vor verb)
hat vorbereitet
bereitete vor

1.
to prepare (for)

("auf"+ Acc. NOT used for preparing food. The word there is "zubereiten" or simply "machen" or "kochen". The main preposition is "auf" but you can also use "für" (see comments).)

Opposite (closest): nachbereiten

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vorbestellen
(vor verb)
hat vorbestellt
bestellte vor

1.
to pre-order

Opposite (closest): nachbestellen

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vorbeugen
(vor verb)
hat vorgebeugt
beugte vor

1.
to bend forward

("sich+Acc vorbeugen" - the focus is on forward, not down. NOT for bending objects.)

2.
to guard against, to prevent something

("einer Sache^(Dative) vorbeugen" - it means that you take measures to prevent that thing from happening or starting. Often used in context of health.)

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vorbringen
(vor verb)
hat vorgebracht
brachte vor

1.
to bring forth

(ONLY for arguments or other information. Sounds quite formal.)

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vordrängeln (sich)
(vor verb)
hat vorgedrängelt
drängelte vor

1.
to jump the queue/line, to skip the line at cash desk

(Always reflexive.)

Opposite (closest): vorlassen

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vordrücken
(vor verb)
hat vorgedrückt
drückte vor

1.
to push/squeeze forward

(If you find a context for this, let me know. Cause I got nothin'.)

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vorenthalten
(vor verb)
hat vorenthalten
enthielt vor

1.
to withhold something from someone, to deny someone something

("jemandem ^(Dat) etwas (Acc) vorenthalten" - Only works with the complete structure, so you do need both objects here.)

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vorfahren
(vor verb)
ist vorgefahren
fuhr vor

1.
to drive up

(Arriving with a car at a venue. Has a certain pomp to it. Think actors at a gala.)

2.
to drive ahead

(Either just guiding the way or also earlier than the others.)

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vorfallen
(vor verb)
ist vorgefallen
fiel vor

1.
to happen, to occur

(Only used for incidents that were caused by people. Not for natural disasters. Sounds a bit serious and formal. Not idiomatic in the negative in contexts like "must not happen again".)

2.
to fall forward

(Technically, it can mean that but "nach vorne fallen" is more idiomatic for this idea.)

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vorfinden
(vor verb)
hat vorgefunden
fand vor

1.
to find

(In context of going to a location and something or someone being there. Sounds technical. Think of a police report.)

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vorführen
(vor verb)
hat vorgeführt
führte vor

1.
to show, to present, to demonstrate

(The first example that comes to my mind is a person presenting a new tech product, showing all it can do. For theater plays, the verb "spielen" is more common. )

2.
to lead forward, to lead to the front

(Not common in this sense. "nach vorne führen" is the idiomatic choice here.)

3.
to make someone look like a fool, to show somebody up

("jemanden vorführen" - The idea is that you create a situation where you "showcase" someone's lack of knowledge or incompetence. )

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vorgeben
(vor verb)
hat vorgegeen
gab vor

1.
to predetermine, to specify

(In the sense of someone setting some sort of frame or goal)

2.
to pretend

(In the sense of make believe. Sounds a little bit formal/high register. The more colloquial version is "so tun als ob" and it's way more common. )

3.
to give forward

(Very literally handing something forward from the rear. "nach vorne geben" is the more idiomatic choice, but technically, "vorgeben" means the same.)

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vorgehen

(vor verb)
ist vorgegangen
ging vor

1.
to come first

(In the sense of priorities. Sometimes also in a literal sense of going to the front, but "nach vorne gehen" is mroe idiomatic for that.)

2.
to go ahead, to walk ahead

(Literally walking with a head start. Also for a watch being ahead. NOT used in the sense of continuing.)

Opposite (closest): nachkommen

3.
to proceed, to take measures

(Taking action in a planned manner to tackle a problem. Can be confrontational when combined with "gegen".)

4.
to go on in someone’s mind/soul

("in jemandem^+Dat vorgehen" - fairly common.)

5.
to happen, to go on

(Not very common and only idiomatic in a few contexts. Sounds a bit old school and a bit "mysterious" or "surprised". )

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vorhaben

(vor verb)
hat vorgehabt
hatte vor

1.
to plan, to intend, to be up to

(very common verb)

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vorhalten
(vor verb)
hat vorgehalten
hielt vor

1.
to hold something in front

(Think of holding a mirror front of you. Actually, that's kind of the only context in which you'll see this meaning.)

2.
to have in reserve, to have on stock

(A formal, technical sounding verb for "having something ready to be used")

3.
to last

(Usually used in the context of a good meal "lasting" for a fair bit of time. Pretty rare otherwise. )

4.
to reproach someone for something

("jemandem etwas vorhalten" - this is the most common use out of all of them, but still, it's not very common. Sounds a bit more moderate than "vorwerfen".)

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vorherrschen
(vor verb)
hat vorgeherrscht
herrschte vor

1.
to be dominant, to reign

(Pretty much only used for circumstances or conditions. Think of the prevailing weather in a region, for example. NOT for people reigning other people.)

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vorhören
(vor verb)
hat vorgehört
hörte vor

1.
to pre-listen

(Pretty much only useful in the context of audio production when you can check how a filter will sound.)

Opposite (closest): nachhören

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vorkommen

(vor verb)
ist vorgekommen
kam vor

1.
to occur, to happen

(For occasional incidences, NOT used in combination with a definite time)

2.
to seem

("jemandem^+Dat vorkommen" - mostly used for things and situations, though it does work for people. The thing "comes before you" in a certain (possibly fake) way. For past tense, "written past/preterit" is more idiomatic.)

3.
to feel like

("sich^+Dativ vorkommen" - essentially the same idea as before, but now you "seem to yourself". For past tense, the preterite is more idiomatic.)

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hervorkriegen
(vor verb)
hat vorgekriegt
kriegte vor

1.
to manage to get forward/to the front

(ONLY in the literal sense of getting objects to the front or out from behind somewhere. "hervorkriegen" is more common, at least in writing, but "vorkriegen" might be used also.)

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vorlassen
(vor verb)
hat vorgelassen
ließ vor

1.
to let someone go ahead

Opposite (closest): hinterlassen

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vorlaufen
(vor verb)
ist vorgelaufen
lief vor

1.
to walk forward, to walk to the front

(In the sense of "to the front", "nach vorne laufen" is more idiomatic.)

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vorlegen
(vor verb)
hat vorgelegt
legte vor

1.
to present, to put forth, to show

(For all kinds of documents and plans. Also used in context of musicians putting out their new album, but to me, it sounds a bit too formal.)

2.
to take a good lead

(Do something first, and now someone else has to catch up. Think of playing billiard, where someone has a really good first round.)

Opposite (closest): nachziehen

3.
to lay in front

(In the literal sense. Think of a towel in front of a fridge. Usually with a "da" in the sentence, or "davor-" as a prefix.)

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vorlesen
(vor verb)
hat vorgelesen
las vor

1.
to read out loud

(also used in the sense of reading to your kids)

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vorliegen
(vor verb)
hat vorgelegen
lag vor

1.
to be available, to be on hand, to have

(A formal word used only in the sense of having evidence or information. The person having it can be connected with Dative.)

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vormachen
(vor verb)
hat vorgemacht
machte vor

1.
to show

(In the sense of doing something to show how it's done)

Opposite (closest): nachmachen

2.
to deceive, to lead someone on

("jemandem etwas vormachen" - the idea is that you put on a show, but it's fake. Also used in the sense of deceiving oneself)

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vormerken
(vor verb)
hat vorgemerkt
merkte vor

1.
to bookmark, to earmark

("sich^+Dat etwas vormerken" - making a mark or note of something because you expect to be needing it later. Think of a date for a festival for example. Pretty much always used reflexively.)

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vornehmen
(vor verb)
hat vorgenommen
nahm vor

1.
to plan something, to set an intention

("sich^+Dat etwas vornehmen" - refers to the moment of setting the plan, not the period of having it. Mostly used in context of personal plans, like changing routines or stuff like that. NOT for schemes.)

2.
to do, to make

(Quite rare and only in a few contexts like for example making corrections or tackling problems. Sounds super formal and no one uses it in daily life)

3.
to tackle, to confront

("sich^+Dat jemanden/etwas vornehmen" - can be used for tackling a task or topic or for confronting a person, often with an undertone of giving them a scolding.)

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vorrechnen
(vor verb)
hat vorgerechnet
rechnete vor

1.
to "show"-calculate

("jemandem etwas vorrechnen" - the idea is that you do a calculation for someone to watch and see that you're right. Also used figuratively in telling someone all their mistakes.)

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vorrücken
(vor verb)
ist vorgerückt
rückte vor

1.
to move forward

(for armies and other squats only. NOT used in sense of making progress.)

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vorsagen
(vor verb)
hat vorgesagt
sagte vor

1.
to promt

(In the sense of telling someone the solution to a question they should answer themselves.)

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vorschlafen

(vor verb)
hat vorgeschlafen
schlief vor

1.
to sleep in advance

(sleeping more than usual to make up for coming sleep deprivation)

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vorschlagen
(vor verb)
hat vorgeschlagen
schlug vor

1.
to suggest, to propose

(NOT for marriage proposals)

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vorschreiben
(vor verb)
hat vorgeschrieben
schrieb vor

1.
to write in advance

(Not very common)

2.
to tell someone what and how

("jemandem etwas vorschreiben" - sounds quite bossy)

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vorschweben
(vor verb)
hat vorgeschwebt
schwebte vor

1.
to have a vision, to picture

("jemandem ^(Dative) schwebt etwas vor", - note that German has the roles backwards. So the idea is the subject and the person doing the imagining is the Dative object. Think of it as something hovering in front of your eyes.)

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vorsehen (sich)
(vor verb)
hat vorgesehen
sah vor

1.
to watch out, to be careful

("sich+Acc vorsehen" - must be reflexive. Sounds a bit high register and is not that common.)

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vorsetzen
(vor verb)
hat vorgesetzt
setzte vor

1.
to (go) sit (further) to the front

("sich+Acc vorsetzen" - me personally, I find "sich nach vorne setzen" more idiomatic. Can also be used in board games for putting your play figurine forward.)

Opposite (closest): hintersetzen

2.
to put something in front of someone

("jemandem etwas vorsetzen" - usually used in the context of putting something "uncool" in front of someone. Like a disgusting dish or poor quality work.)

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vorsingen
(vor verb)
hat vorgesungen
sang vor

1.
to sing to

(Singing a song for someone. Think of kids at Christmas. NOT for concerts and NOT for karaoke.)

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vorsorgen
(vor verb)
hat vorgesorgt
sorgte vor

1.
to make provisions

(to make some preparations for the future.)

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vorspielen
(vor verb)
hat vorgespielt
spielte vor

1.
to fake something, to put on a facade

("jemandem etwas vorspielen" - you pretty much always have to include the person who is being lied to. It sounds a bit weird without it.)

2.
to play for someone

("jemandem etwas vorspielen" - can be life music as well as playing a record for someone.)

Opposite (closest): nachspielen

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vorsprechen
(vor verb)
hat vorgesprochen
sprach vor

1.
to "show"-say

(When you say something that you then want someone else to repeat.)

2.
to read for, to audition for

(In the context of movie and theater, when you try to get a role or a place in the school.)

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vorspulen

(vor verb)
hat vorgespult
spulte vor

1.
to fast forward

(from back when there was still tape recording, slowly fading away)

Opposite (closest): zurückspulen

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vorstehen
(vor verb)
hat vorgestanden
stand vor

1.
to be someone's superior, to chair, to preside

(The sense is that you're the leader. The person or entity being led is in Dative. Sounds quite formal and it's not common at all. )

Opposite (closest): unterstehen

2.
to protrude, to buldge

(Another option for something sticking out somewhere. Only for tangible things, so not used metaphorically.)

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vorsteigen
(vor verb)
ist vorgestiegen
stieg vor

1.
to lead, to climb ahead

(Mountaineering/climbing term for the lead climber.)

Opposite (closest): nachsteigen

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vorstellen
(vor verb)
hat vorgestellt
stellte vor

1.
to present, to introduce

(the entity you present is the direct object (Accusative) and the person you present to is the indirect object ^(Dative))

2.
to imagine, to picture

("sich vorstellen", always reflexive with the reflexive in Dative. You "present" something "to yourself", so to speak)

3.
to set ahead

(ONLY for watches.)

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