AltenpflegevsAltenpflegerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,030
“Altenpflege” frequency rank
#37,949
“Altenpfleger” frequency rank
62979
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Altenpflege Altenpfleger
Definition der gesamte Bereich, der Maßnahmen zur Betreuung und Pflege alter Menschen umfasst Person, die alte Menschen pflegt, die dazu selbst nicht mehr in der Lage sind

Where the eye mixes Altenpflege and Altenpfleger

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

11 ch
Altenpflege
12 ch
Altenpfleger

Look-alike desk: Altenpflege vs Altenpfleger

A purely visual mix-up. Altenpflege ([ˈaltn̩ˌp͡fleːɡə]) and Altenpfleger ([ˈaltn̩ˌp͡fleːɡɐ]) 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) - “Altenpflege” sits inside “Altenpfleger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62979, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Altenpflege is recorded at frequency rank #25,030, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaltn̩ˌp͡fleːɡə]. Altenpfleger is at rank #37,949, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaltn̩ˌp͡fleːɡɐ].

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 62979, this pair ranks #693,183 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Altenpflege vs Altenpfleger

Shared letters: aefglnpt. Private to "Altenpflege": -. Private to "Altenpfleger": r.

"Altenpflege" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCCCVCV  ·  "Altenpfleger" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Altenpflege ← aletnpflege · alltenpflege · altenfplege · altennpflege · altenpfelge · altenpfflege · altenpfleeg · altenpflegge
  • Altenpfleger ← aletnpfleger · alltenpfleger · altenfpleger · altennpfleger · altenpfelger · altenpffleger · altenpfleegr · altenpflegerr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Altenpflege" for "Altenpfleger" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaltn̩ˌp͡fleːɡə] versus [ˈaltn̩ˌp͡fleːɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Altenpflege" or "Altenpfleger" show up more?
"Altenpflege" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,030 in our German list, against #37,949 for "Altenpfleger". 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 "Altenpflege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Altenpfleger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #693,183 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #693,183 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