trägevsTranceWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: träge is a adjective, Trance is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“träge” is an adjective and “Trance” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,926
“träge” frequency rank
#24,153
“Trance” frequency rank
47079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature träge Trance
Definition ohne inneren Antrieb (durch Hypnose, Suggestion, Drogen, religiöser Ekstase oder dergleichen herbeigeführter) veränderter Bewusstseinszustand, der einhergeht mit einer Bewusstseinstrübung (Einschränkung der freien Willensbestimmung und einer ungenauen Wahrnehmung der Umwelt) und dem eines Dämmerzustands ähnelt

Where the eye mixes träge and Trance

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
träge
6 ch
Trance

Why the eye confuses träge with Trance

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: träge is [ˈtʁɛːɡə] while Trance is [tʁɑ̃ːs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

träge is recorded at frequency rank #22,926, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtʁɛːɡə]. Trance is at rank #24,153, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tʁɑ̃ːs].

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 47079, this pair ranks #1,296,924 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of träge vs Trance

Shared letters: ert. Private to "träge": . Private to "Trance": acn.

"träge" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Trance" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Trancertance · tarnce · tracne · trancce · tranec · trannce · trnace · trrance

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "träge" for "Trance" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "träge" is an adjective and "Trance" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "träge" vs "Trance" - which ranks higher?
"träge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,926 in our German list, against #24,153 for "Trance". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "träge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Trance" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,296,924 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "träge" and "Trance" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "träge vs trügen". 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 #1,296,924 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