true

[tɹuː]

/[tɹuː]/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“true” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #9,645) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#9,645
frequency rank, German
2,684
“T” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - wahr, richtig

Corpus desk

Index DE-true · true · German

true · rank #9,645 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,645
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,684
  • PHOTO-FINISH Trieb

Nearest frequency peer: Trieb (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „true“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „true“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

true vs tu
50% similar
true vs tun
50% similar
true vs tut
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for true
PropertyValue
Headwordtrue
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[tɹuː]
Letters4
Frequency rank#9,645
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „true“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.trueliegt auf dieser Marke:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Trieb“ (#9,644), „umgewandelt“ (#9,646), „treffe“ (#9,643). Unter 2,684 „T“-Lemmata liegt „true“ bei #9,645. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for true is neighbouring look-alikes ("tu", "tun", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced [tɹuː]. Frequency #9,645 among 2,684 “T” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for true, with forms such as "rtue", "trrue", and "ttrue". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tu", "tun", "tut", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is true, spelled T-R-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    wahr, richtig
  2. 2
    treu, loyal, wahr
  3. 3
    legitim, gebürtig, rechtmäßig, wahr

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how true appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. That is true.
  2. "We say, 'It is easy to have calmness in inactivity, it is hard to have calmness in activity, but calmness in activity is true calmness.'"

Synonyms

loyalrightful

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • rtue
  • trrue
  • ttrue
  • ture

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of true - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

rtue2trrue1ttrue1ture2
Edit distance from "true"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "true"?
"true" is spelled T-R-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is [tɹuː].
What does "true" mean?
As an adjective, "true" means: wahr, richtig
What words are commonly confused with "true"?
"true" is commonly confused with "tu", "tun", "tut". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "true"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "true" is [tɹuː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "true" come from?
"true" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "true", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

StGB#9,638Reiz#9,613bell#9,689Neid#9,600

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list