Which to use
“trace” is a verb and “Trick” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,869
- “trace” frequency rank
- #5,434
- “Trick” frequency rank
- 48303
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trace | Trick |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zurückverfolgen, verfolgen | ein Kunststück, Streich, ein Kunstgriff, dessen Funktionsweise für Nichteingeweihte nicht offensichtlich ist; eine Überraschung, Staunen oder Entsetzen hervorrufende, unerwartete, schwer vorhersagbare oder berechenbare Handlung |
Where the eye mixes trace and Trick
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: trace vs Trick
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trace is [treɪs] while Trick is [tʁɪk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48303, 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]. Trick is at rank #5,434, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tʁɪk].
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 48303, this pair ranks #1,253,522 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of trace vs Trick
Shared letters: crt. Private to "trace": ae. Private to "Trick": ik.
"trace" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "Trick" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "trace" and "Trick" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "trace" or "Trick" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "trace" and "Trick" 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 "Trick" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,253,522 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trace" and "Trick" 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 #1,253,522 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.