Which to use
“trotz” is a preposition and “trotzen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #624
- “trotz” frequency rank
- #27,523
- “trotzen” frequency rank
- 28147
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trotz | trotzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ungeachtet eines bestimmten Umstandes; ohne Rücksicht auf etwas; einer Sache zum Trotz | sich einer Sache widersetzen, etwas die Stirn bieten, entgegentreten |
Where the eye mixes trotz and trotzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. trotz runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against trotzen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses trotz with trotzen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trotz is [tʁɔt͡s] while trotzen is [ˈtʁɔt͡sn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “trotz” sits inside “trotzen”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trotz is recorded at frequency rank #624, classified as aprep, pronounced [tʁɔt͡s]. trotzen is at rank #27,523, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁɔt͡sn̩].
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 28147, this pair ranks #1,789,752 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of trotz vs trotzen
Shared letters: ortz. Private to "trotz": -. Private to "trotzen": en.
"trotz" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "trotzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "trotz" for "trotzen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "trotz" or "trotzen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "trotz" and "trotzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "trotz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "trotzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,789,752 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trotz" and "trotzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trotzen 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 #1,789,752 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.