TränenvsTrankTell them apart

Which to use

“Tränen” and “Trank” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,690
“Tränen” frequency rank
#12,186
“Trank” frequency rank
15876
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tränen Trank
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Träne flüssiges Nahrungsmittel

Where the eye mixes Tränen and Trank

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Tränen runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against Trank's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Tränen
5 ch
Trank

Look-alike desk: Tränen vs Trank

A purely visual mix-up. Tränen ([ˈtʁɛːnən]) and Trank ([tʁaŋk]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tränen is recorded at frequency rank #3,690, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtʁɛːnən]. Trank is at rank #12,186, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tʁaŋk].

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 15876, this pair ranks #1,940,410 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Tränen vs Trank

Shared letters: nrt. Private to "Tränen": eä. Private to "Trank": ak.

"Tränen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Trank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Trank ← rtank · tarnk · trakn · trankk · trannk · trnak · trrank · ttrank

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Tränen" for "Trank" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtʁɛːnən] versus [tʁaŋk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Tränen" vs "Trank" - which ranks higher?
"Tränen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,690 in our German list, against #12,186 for "Trank". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tränen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Trank" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,940,410 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tränen" and "Trank" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Trank 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 #1,940,410 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