trautevstrübeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,800
“traute” frequency rank
#34,407
“trübe” frequency rank
56207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature traute trübe
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs traut Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs trüb

Where the eye mixes traute and trübe

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

6 ch
traute
5 ch
trübe

Look-alike desk: traute vs trübe

A purely visual mix-up. traute ([ˈtʁaʊ̯tə]) and trübe ([ˈtʁyːbə]) 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 56207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

traute is recorded at frequency rank #21,800, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtʁaʊ̯tə]. trübe is at rank #34,407, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtʁyːbə].

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 56207, this pair ranks #949,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of traute vs trübe

Shared letters: ert. Private to "traute": au. Private to "trübe": bü.

"traute" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "trübe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • traute ← rtaute · tarute · tratue · trauet · trautte · trraute · truate · ttraute

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "traute" and "trübe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtʁaʊ̯tə] versus [ˈtʁyːbə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "traute" or "trübe" show up more?
"traute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,800 in our German list, against #34,407 for "trübe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "traute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trübe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #949,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "traute" and "trübe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trübe 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 #949,203 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