Which to use
“trifft” and “tropft” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,170
- “trifft” frequency rank
- #29,372
- “tropft” frequency rank
- 30542
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trifft | tropft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs treffen | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tropfen |
Where the eye mixes trifft and tropft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. trifft and tropft follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses trifft with tropft
A purely visual mix-up. trifft ([tʁɪft]) and tropft ([tʁɔp͡ft]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30542, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trifft is recorded at frequency rank #1,170, classified as averb, pronounced [tʁɪft]. tropft is at rank #29,372, tagged as averb, pronounced [tʁɔp͡ft].
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 30542, this pair ranks #1,745,775 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of trifft vs tropft
Shared letters: frt. Private to "trifft": i. Private to "tropft": op.
"trifft" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "tropft" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "trifft" and "tropft" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "trifft" vs "tropft" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "trifft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tropft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,745,775 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trifft" and "tropft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tropft vs trotzt". 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 #1,745,775 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.