tropftvstrotztWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,372
“tropft” frequency rank
#40,898
“trotzt” frequency rank
70270
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tropft trotzt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tropfen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs trotzen

Where the eye mixes tropft and trotzt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tropft and trotzt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
tropft
6 ch
trotzt

Why the eye confuses tropft with trotzt

A purely visual mix-up. tropft ([tʁɔp͡ft]) and trotzt ([tʁɔt͡st]) 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 70270, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tropft is recorded at frequency rank #29,372, classified as averb, pronounced [tʁɔp͡ft]. trotzt is at rank #40,898, tagged as averb, pronounced [tʁɔt͡st].

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 70270, this pair ranks #451,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tropft vs trotzt

Shared letters: ort. Private to "tropft": fp. Private to "trotzt": z.

"tropft" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "trotzt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tropftrtopft · torpft · trofpt · tropfft · tropftt · troppft · troptf · trpoft
  • trotztrtotzt · tortzt · trottzt · trotztt · trotzzt · troztt · trrotzt · trtozt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tropft" and "trotzt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([tʁɔp͡ft] versus [tʁɔt͡st]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "tropft" or "trotzt" show up more?
"tropft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,372 in our German list, against #40,898 for "trotzt". 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 "tropft" and "trotzt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tropft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trotzt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #451,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tropft" and "trotzt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tretet 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 #451,390 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