trautenvstrübenTell them apart

Quick tell: trauten is a adjective, trüben is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“trauten” is an adjective and “trüben” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,942
“trauten” frequency rank
#20,753
“trüben” frequency rank
55695
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trauten trüben
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs traut dunkel machen oder werden

Where the eye mixes trauten and trüben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
trauten
6 ch
trüben

Visual trap between trauten and trüben

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trauten is [ˈtʁaʊ̯tn̩] while trüben is [ˈtʁyːbn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55695, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trauten is recorded at frequency rank #34,942, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtʁaʊ̯tn̩]. trüben is at rank #20,753, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁyːbn̩].

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 55695, this pair ranks #969,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of trauten vs trüben

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "trauten": au. Private to "trüben": .

"trauten" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "trüben" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trautenrtauten · taruten · tratuen · trauetn · trautenn · trautne · trautten · trrauten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "trauten" and "trüben" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "trauten" is an adjective and "trüben" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "trauten" vs "trüben" - which ranks higher?
"trüben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,753 in our German list, against #34,942 for "trauten". 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 "trauten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trüben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #969,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "trauten" and "trüben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trauten 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 #969,481 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