tresvstrübTell them apart

Quick tell: tres is a num, trüb is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tres” is a num and “trüb” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,943
“tres” frequency rank
#36,672
“trüb” frequency rank
71615
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tres trüb
Definition sechzig unklar, nicht transparent, stark undurchsichtig, fast nicht mehr durchsichtig

Where the eye mixes tres and trüb

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. tres and trüb follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
tres
4 ch
trüb

Why the eye confuses tres with trüb

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tres is [tʀɛs] while trüb is [tʁyːp]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71615, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tres is recorded at frequency rank #34,943, classified as anum, pronounced [tʀɛs]. trüb is at rank #36,672, tagged as anadj, pronounced [tʁyːp].

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 71615, this pair ranks #411,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tres vs trüb

Shared letters: rt. Private to "tres": es. Private to "trüb": bü.

"tres" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "trüb" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tres ← rtes · ters · tress · trres · trse · ttres

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tres" and "trüb" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tres" is a num and "trüb" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "tres" or "trüb" show up more?
"tres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,943 in our German list, against #36,672 for "trüb". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "tres" and "trüb" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trüb" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #411,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tres" and "trüb" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taut vs trüb". 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 #411,758 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