vertraglichevsvertraulicheTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,839
“vertragliche” frequency rank
#28,457
“vertrauliche” frequency rank
61296
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vertragliche vertrauliche
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vertraglich Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vertraulich

Where the eye mixes vertragliche and vertrauliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. vertragliche (CVCCCVCCVCCV) and vertrauliche (CVCCCVVCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

12 ch
vertragliche
12 ch
vertrauliche

Visual trap between vertragliche and vertrauliche

A purely visual mix-up. vertragliche ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːklɪçə]) 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 a single letter - g in “vertragliche” becomes u in “vertrauliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vertragliche is recorded at frequency rank #32,839, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːklɪçə]. 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 61296, this pair ranks #755,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vertragliche vs vertrauliche

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

"vertragliche" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCCV  ·  "vertrauliche" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vertragliche ← evrtragliche · verrtagliche · verrtragliche · vertargliche · vertraggliche · vertragilche · vertraglcihe · vertraglicche
  • vertrauliche ← evrtrauliche · verrtauliche · verrtrauliche · vertaruliche · vertraluiche · vertrauilche · vertraulcihe · vertraulicche

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vertragliche" for "vertrauliche" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːklɪçə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯lɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vertragliche" or "vertrauliche"?
"vertrauliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,457 in our German list, against #32,839 for "vertragliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vertragliche" 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 #755,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vertragliche" and "vertrauliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vertragliche vs vertraglichen". 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 #755,087 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