TränevstrenneWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#21,803
“Träne” frequency rank
#42,190
“trenne” frequency rank
63993
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Same sound, different letters: Träne vs trenne

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.

5 ch
Träne
6 ch
trenne

Same sound, different spelling - Träne / trenne

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: Träne and trenne carry the same recorded pronunciation, [ˈtʁɛːnə]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63993, 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]. trenne is at rank #42,190, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁɛnə].

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 63993, this pair ranks #657,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Träne vs trenne

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "Träne": ä. Private to "trenne": -.

"Träne" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "trenne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trennertenne · ternne · trene · trnene · trrenne · ttrenne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Träne" and "trenne" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Träne" is a noun and "trenne" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Träne" or "trenne"?
"Träne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,803 in our German list, against #42,190 for "trenne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've separated the homophone pair "Träne" / "trenne". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Träne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trenne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #657,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Träne" and "trenne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tränke vs trenne". 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 #657,106 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