vooraan

Vooraan is a Dutch adverb and prepositional phrase meaning at the front or in the lead. It denotes position in relation to others, such as in a queue, a seating arrangement, or a competition. The word is a fused form of voor (in front, before) and aan (at, on) and is written as a single word in modern Dutch; older spellings sometimes used hyphenation (voor-aan).

Vooraan is commonly used to describe spatial or ordinal position: for example, "Hij stond vooraan in de rij" (He stood at the front of the line), "Zij zat vooraan in de zaal" (She sat at the front of the hall), or "Het team staat vooraan in de competitie" (The team is in the lead in the standings). In practice, vooraan often conveys the extreme front of a group, while voorin is typically used for positions inside a space near its front.

Both forms are frequent in contemporary Dutch, and the choice can depend on regional preferences and the exact sense intended. As a general guideline, gebruik vooraan voor front-most positions in an external line or order, and voorin when describing locations inside a space near its front. The term is established in standard Dutch and is widely understood in formal and informal contexts.