VertragvsvertraueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Vertrag is a noun, vertraue is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Vertrag” is a noun and “vertraue” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,172
“Vertrag” frequency rank
#14,203
“vertraue” frequency rank
15375
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vertrag vertraue
Definition rechtlich bindende Vereinbarung zwischen mindestens zwei verschiedenen Partnern 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs vertrauen

Where the eye mixes Vertrag and vertraue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Vertrag
8 ch
vertraue

Why the eye confuses Vertrag with vertraue

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Vertrag is [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːk] while vertraue is [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯ə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vertrag is recorded at frequency rank #1,172, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːk]. vertraue is at rank #14,203, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯ə].

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 15375, this pair ranks #1,944,366 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Vertrag vs vertraue

Shared letters: aertv. Private to "Vertrag": g. Private to "vertraue": u.

"Vertrag" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "vertraue" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vertragevrtrag · verrtag · verrtrag · vertarg · vertragg · vertrga · vertrrag · verttrag
  • vertraueevrtraue · verrtaue · verrtraue · vertarue · vertraeu · vertrraue · vertruae · verttraue

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Vertrag" for "vertraue" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Vertrag" is a noun and "vertraue" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Vertrag" or "vertraue" show up more?
"Vertrag" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,172 in our German list, against #14,203 for "vertraue". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vertrag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vertraue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,944,366 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vertrag" and "vertraue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vertraue vs vertraust". 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 #1,944,366 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