trübvstueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: trüb is a adjective, tue is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“trüb” is an adjective and “tue” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,672
“trüb” frequency rank
#4,659
“tue” frequency rank
41331
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trüb tue
Definition unklar, nicht transparent, stark undurchsichtig, fast nicht mehr durchsichtig 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tun

Where the eye mixes trüb and tue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
trüb
3 ch
tue

Look-alike desk: trüb vs tue

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trüb is [tʁyːp] while tue is [ˈtuːə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trüb is recorded at frequency rank #36,672, classified as anadj, pronounced [tʁyːp]. tue is at rank #4,659, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtuːə].

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 41331, this pair ranks #1,482,674 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of trüb vs tue

Shared letters: t. Private to "trüb": brü. Private to "tue": eu.

"trüb" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "tue" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "trüb" and "tue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "trüb" is an adjective and "tue" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "trüb" or "tue" show up more?
"tue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,659 in our German list, against #36,672 for "trüb". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "trüb" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,482,674 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "trüb" and "tue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taut vs trüb". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,482,674 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