Which to use
“trauen” is a verb and “Trauer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,656
- “trauen” frequency rank
- #5,545
- “Trauer” frequency rank
- 11201
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trauen | Trauer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | das Gefühl haben, sich darauf verlassen zu können, dass etwas oder jemand so handeln oder funktionieren wird, wie man es sich vorstellt | Stimmungslage, die beim Verlust, insbesondere beim Tod eines geliebten Wesens auftritt |
Where the eye mixes trauen and Trauer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. trauen and Trauer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses trauen with Trauer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trauen is [ˈtʁaʊ̯ən] while Trauer is [ˈtʁaʊ̯ɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “trauen” becomes r in “Trauer”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trauen is recorded at frequency rank #5,656, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁaʊ̯ən]. Trauer is at rank #5,545, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtʁaʊ̯ɐ].
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 11201, this pair ranks #1,971,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of trauen vs Trauer
Shared letters: aertu. Private to "trauen": n. Private to "Trauer": -.
"trauen" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "Trauer" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "trauen" for "Trauer" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "trauen" or "Trauer" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "trauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Trauer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,971,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trauen" and "Trauer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trauen 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 #1,971,136 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.