traurigvstraurigenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,947
“traurig” frequency rank
#13,962
“traurigen” frequency rank
15909
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature traurig traurigen
Definition betrübt, niedergeschlagen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs traurig

Where the eye mixes traurig and traurigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
traurig
9 ch
traurigen

Why the eye confuses traurig with traurigen

A purely visual mix-up. traurig ([ˈtʁaʊ̯ʁɪç]) and traurigen ([ˈtʁaʊ̯ʁɪɡn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “traurig” sits inside “traurigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

traurig is recorded at frequency rank #1,947, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtʁaʊ̯ʁɪç]. traurigen is at rank #13,962, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtʁaʊ̯ʁɪɡn̩].

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 15909, this pair ranks #1,940,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of traurig vs traurigen

Shared letters: agirtu. Private to "traurig": -. Private to "traurigen": en.

"traurig" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "traurigen" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • traurigrtaurig · tarurig · traruig · trauirg · traurgi · traurigg · traurrig · trraurig
  • traurigenrtaurigen · tarurigen · traruigen · trauirgen · traurgien · trauriegn · traurigenn · trauriggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "traurig" for "traurigen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtʁaʊ̯ʁɪç] versus [ˈtʁaʊ̯ʁɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "traurig" vs "traurigen" - which ranks higher?
"traurig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,947 in our German list, against #13,962 for "traurigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "traurig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "traurigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,940,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "traurig" and "traurigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "traurigen vs trauriges". 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 #1,940,168 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