TränevstraueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Träne is a noun, traue is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Träne” is a noun and “traue” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,803
“Träne” frequency rank
#10,379
“traue” frequency rank
32182
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Träne traue
Definition salziger Tropfen, den das Auge beim Weinen vergießt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs trauen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Träne and traue apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Träne
5 ch
traue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Träne is [ˈtʁɛːnə] while traue is [ˈtʁaʊ̯ə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Träne is recorded at frequency rank #21,803, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtʁɛːnə]. traue is at rank #10,379, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁaʊ̯ə].

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 32182, this pair ranks #1,713,005 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Träne vs traue

Shared letters: ert. Private to "Träne": . Private to "traue": au.

"Träne" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "traue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trauertaue · tarue · traeu · trraue · truae · ttraue

Frequency comparison

Träne#21,803
traue#10,379

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Träne" and "traue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Träne" is a noun and "traue" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Träne" or "traue"?
"traue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,379 in our German list, against #21,803 for "Träne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Träne vs traue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Träne”; for a verb, it's “traue”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Träne” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list