flehenvsflogenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#40,536
“flehen” frequency rank
#14,567
“flogen” frequency rank
55103
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flehen flogen
Definition emotional, stark untersetzt, bei jemandem um etwas bitten 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fliegen

Where the eye mixes flehen and flogen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
flehen
6 ch
flogen

Visual trap between flehen and flogen

A purely visual mix-up. flehen ([ˈfleːən]) and flogen ([floːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flehen is recorded at frequency rank #40,536, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfleːən]. flogen is at rank #14,567, tagged as averb, pronounced [floːɡn̩].

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 55103, this pair ranks #992,615 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of flehen vs flogen

Shared letters: efln. Private to "flehen": h. Private to "flogen": go.

"flehen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "flogen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flehenfflehen · fleehn · flehenn · flehhen · flehne · flheen · fllehen · lfehen
  • flogenfflogen · flgoen · fllogen · floegn · flogenn · floggen · flogne · lfogen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flehen" and "flogen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfleːən] versus [floːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "flehen" vs "flogen" - which ranks higher?
"flogen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,567 in our German list, against #40,536 for "flehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "flehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "flogen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #992,615 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "flehen" and "flogen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flehen vs fleht". 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 #992,615 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