trügenvstuenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#48,553
“trügen” frequency rank
#32,318
“tuen” frequency rank
80871
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trügen tuen
Definition etwas Unzutreffendes vortäuschen 1. Person Plural Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tun

Where the eye mixes trügen and tuen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. trügen runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against tuen's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
trügen
4 ch
tuen

Look-alike desk: trügen vs tuen

A purely visual mix-up. trügen ([ˈtʁyːɡn̩]) and tuen ([ˈtuːən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trügen is recorded at frequency rank #48,553, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁyːɡn̩]. tuen is at rank #32,318, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtuːən].

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 80871, this pair ranks #186,812 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of trügen vs tuen

Shared letters: ent. Private to "trügen": grü. Private to "tuen": u.

"trügen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "tuen" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tuen ← teun · ttuen · tuenn · tune · uten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "trügen" and "tuen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtʁyːɡn̩] versus [ˈtuːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "trügen" or "tuen"?
"tuen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,318 in our German list, against #48,553 for "trügen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "trügen" and "tuen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "trügen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tuen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #186,812 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "trügen" and "tuen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trügen vs trügt". 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 #186,812 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