tragenvstrautenConfusable pair

Quick tell: tragen is a verb, trauten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tragen” is a verb and “trauten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#786
“tragen” frequency rank
#34,942
“trauten” frequency rank
35728
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tragen trauten
Definition etwas mit den Armen oder auf dem Rücken von einem Ort zu einem anderen Ort transportieren Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs traut

Where the eye mixes tragen and trauten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tragen runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against trauten's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
tragen
7 ch
trauten

Look-alike desk: tragen vs trauten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tragen is [ˈtʁaːɡn̩] while trauten is [ˈtʁaʊ̯tn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tragen is recorded at frequency rank #786, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁaːɡn̩]. trauten is at rank #34,942, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtʁaʊ̯tn̩].

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 35728, this pair ranks #1,633,002 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tragen vs trauten

Shared letters: aenrt. Private to "tragen": g. Private to "trauten": u.

"tragen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "trauten" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tragen ← rtagen · targen · traegn · tragenn · traggen · tragne · trgaen · trragen
  • trauten ← rtauten · taruten · tratuen · trauetn · trautenn · trautne · trautten · trrauten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tragen" and "trauten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tragen" is a verb and "trauten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "tragen" vs "trauten" - which ranks higher?
"tragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #786 in our German list, against #34,942 for "trauten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tragen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trauten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,633,002 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tragen" and "trauten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trauten 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 #1,633,002 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