Which to use
“trotzdem” is an adverb and “trotzen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #483
- “trotzdem” frequency rank
- #27,523
- “trotzen” frequency rank
- 28006
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trotzdem | trotzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dennoch; trotz dieses Umstandes | sich einer Sache widersetzen, etwas die Stirn bieten, entgegentreten |
Where the eye mixes trotzdem and trotzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. trotzdem runs 8 letters (CCVCCCVC) against trotzen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between trotzdem and trotzen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trotzdem is [ˈtʁɔt͡sdeːm] while trotzen is [ˈtʁɔt͡sn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trotzdem is recorded at frequency rank #483, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈtʁɔt͡sdeːm]. 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 28006, this pair ranks #1,792,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of trotzdem vs trotzen
Shared letters: eortz. Private to "trotzdem": dm. Private to "trotzen": n.
"trotzdem" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC · "trotzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "trotzdem" for "trotzen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "trotzdem" or "trotzen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "trotzdem" and "trotzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "trotzdem" 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 #1,792,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trotzdem" 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 #1,792,200 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.