vertrautevsvertrautenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,777
“vertraute” frequency rank
#13,729
“vertrauten” frequency rank
25506
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vertraute vertrauten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vertraut Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vertraut

Where the eye mixes vertraute and vertrauten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. vertraute runs 9 letters (CVCCCVVCV) against vertrauten's 10 (CVCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
vertraute
10 ch
vertrauten

Visual trap between vertraute and vertrauten

A purely visual mix-up. vertraute ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯tə]) and vertrauten ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯tn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “vertraute” sits inside “vertrauten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vertraute is recorded at frequency rank #11,777, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯tə]. 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 25506, this pair ranks #1,832,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vertraute vs vertrauten

Shared letters: aertuv. Private to "vertraute": -. Private to "vertrauten": n.

"vertraute" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCV  ·  "vertrauten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vertraute ← evrtraute · verrtaute · verrtraute · vertarute · vertratue · vertrauet · vertrautte · vertrraute
  • vertrauten ← evrtrauten · verrtauten · verrtrauten · vertaruten · vertratuen · vertrauetn · vertrautenn · vertrautne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vertraute" and "vertrauten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯tə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaʊ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vertraute" or "vertrauten"?
"vertraute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,777 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vertraute" 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 #1,832,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vertraute" and "vertrauten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vertraust vs vertraute". 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 #1,832,248 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