tracevsträgtConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,869
“trace” frequency rank
#1,213
“trägt” frequency rank
44082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trace trägt
Definition zurückverfolgen, verfolgen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tragen

Where the eye mixes trace and trägt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. trace (CCVCV) and trägt (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
trace
5 ch
trägt

Visual trap between trace and trägt

A purely visual mix-up. trace ([treɪs]) and trägt ([tʁɛːkt]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trace is recorded at frequency rank #42,869, classified as averb, pronounced [treɪs]. trägt is at rank #1,213, tagged as averb, pronounced [tʁɛːkt].

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 44082, this pair ranks #1,397,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of trace vs trägt

Shared letters: rt. Private to "trace": ace. Private to "trägt": gä.

"trace" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "trägt" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trace ← rtace · tarce · tracce · traec · trcae · trrace · ttrace

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "trace" and "trägt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([treɪs] versus [tʁɛːkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "trace" or "trägt" show up more?
"trägt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,213 in our German list, against #42,869 for "trace". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "trace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trägt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,397,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "trace" and "trägt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trace vs tränke". 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 #1,397,612 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