vertraglichvsvertraulicheWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#15,781
“vertraglich” frequency rank
#28,457
“vertrauliche” frequency rank
44238
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vertraglich vertrauliche
Definition wie in einem Vertrag (einem in der Regel schriftlichen Regelwerk, beispielsweise über den Austausch von Gütern, Dienstleistungen oder Häusern zwischen Personen und Firmen, meist gegen Geld, oder zwischen Staaten) festgelegt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vertraulich

Where the eye mixes vertraglich and vertrauliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. vertraglich runs 11 letters (CVCCCVCCVCC) against vertrauliche's 12 (CVCCCVVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
vertraglich
12 ch
vertrauliche

Why the eye confuses vertraglich with vertrauliche

A purely visual mix-up. vertraglich ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːklɪç]) and vertrauliche ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯lɪçə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vertraglich is recorded at frequency rank #15,781, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːklɪç]. vertrauliche is at rank #28,457, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯lɪçə].

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 44238, this pair ranks #1,392,536 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vertraglich vs vertrauliche

Shared letters: acehilrtv. Private to "vertraglich": g. Private to "vertrauliche": u.

"vertraglich" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCC  ·  "vertrauliche" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vertraglich ← evrtraglich · verrtaglich · verrtraglich · vertarglich · vertragglich · vertragilch · vertraglcih · vertraglicch
  • vertrauliche ← evrtrauliche · verrtauliche · verrtrauliche · vertaruliche · vertraluiche · vertrauilche · vertraulcihe · vertraulicche

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vertraglich" and "vertrauliche" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːklɪç] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯lɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "vertraglich" or "vertrauliche" show up more?
"vertraglich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,781 in our German list, against #28,457 for "vertrauliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vertraglich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vertrauliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,392,536 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vertraglich" and "vertrauliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vertraglichen vs vertrauliche". 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 #1,392,536 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