trostvströstenConfusable pair

Quick tell: trost is a noun, trösten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“trost” is a noun and “trösten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,296
“trost” frequency rank
#16,302
“trösten” frequency rank
24598
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trost trösten
Definition Drossel jemandem durch Anteilnahme, Worte oder Anwesenheit Trost spenden

Letter map: trost vs trösten

Shared letters muted; letters that set trost and trösten apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
trost
7 ch
trösten

Part-of-speech tell for trost / trösten

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: trost is anoun and tröstenaverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trost is recorded at frequency rank #8,296, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. trösten is at rank #16,302, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁøːstn̩].

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 24598, this pair ranks #1,845,358 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of trost vs trösten

Shared letters: rst. Private to "trost": o. Private to "trösten": enö.

"trost" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "trösten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trostrtost · torst · trosst · trostt · trots · trrost · trsot · ttrost

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "trost" for "trösten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "trost" is a noun and "trösten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "trost" vs "trösten" - which ranks higher?
"trost" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,296 in our German list, against #16,302 for "trösten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "trost" vs "trösten" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "trost" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trösten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,845,358 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "trost" and "trösten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs trost". 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 #1,845,358 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