vertrauevsvertrauteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,203
“vertraue” frequency rank
#11,777
“vertraute” frequency rank
25980
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vertraue vertraute
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs vertrauen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vertraut

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vertraue and vertraute apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
vertraue
9 ch
vertraute

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vertraue is [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯ə] while vertraute is [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯tə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vertraue is recorded at frequency rank #14,203, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯ə]. vertraute is at rank #11,777, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯tə].

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 25980, this pair ranks #1,825,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vertraue vs vertraute

Shared letters: aertuv. Private to "vertraue": -. Private to "vertraute": -.

"vertraue" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVV  ·  "vertraute" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vertraueevrtraue · verrtaue · verrtraue · vertarue · vertraeu · vertrraue · vertruae · verttraue
  • vertrauteevrtraute · verrtaute · verrtraute · vertarute · vertratue · vertrauet · vertrautte · vertrraute

Frequency comparison

vertraue#14,203
vertraute#11,777

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vertraue" and "vertraute" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vertraue" is a verb and "vertraute" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vertraue" or "vertraute"?
"vertraute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,777 in our German list, against #14,203 for "vertraue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vertraue vs vertraute

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “vertraue”; for an adjective, it's “vertraute”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vertraue” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list