verratenvsvertrautenTell them apart

Quick tell: verraten is a verb, vertrauten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#3,928
“verraten” frequency rank
#13,729
“vertrauten” frequency rank
17657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verraten vertrauten
Definition jemandem ein Geheimnis oder eine vertrauliche Nachricht preisgeben Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vertraut

Where the eye mixes verraten and vertrauten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verraten runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against vertrauten's 10 (CVCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
verraten
10 ch
vertrauten

Why the eye confuses verraten with vertrauten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verraten is [fɛɐ̯ˈʁaːtn̩] while vertrauten is [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verraten is recorded at frequency rank #3,928, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʁaːtn̩]. vertrauten is at rank #13,729, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯tn̩].

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 17657, this pair ranks #1,925,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verraten vs vertrauten

Shared letters: aenrtv. Private to "verraten": -. Private to "vertrauten": u.

"verraten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "vertrauten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verraten ← evrraten · verarten · veraten · verraetn · verratenn · verratne · verratten · verrtaen
  • vertrauten ← evrtrauten · verrtauten · verrtrauten · vertaruten · vertratuen · vertrauetn · vertrautenn · vertrautne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verraten" and "vertrauten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verraten" is a verb and "vertrauten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verraten" vs "vertrauten" - which ranks higher?
"verraten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,928 in our German list, against #13,729 for "vertrauten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verraten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vertrauten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,925,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verraten" and "vertrauten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verraten vs Verrats". 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 #1,925,439 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