flehenvsFlügenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: flehen is a verb, Flügen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“flehen” is a verb and “Flügen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,536
“flehen” frequency rank
#20,251
“Flügen” frequency rank
60787
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flehen Flügen
Definition emotional, stark untersetzt, bei jemandem um etwas bitten Dativ Plural des Substantivs Flug

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set flehen and Flügen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
flehen
6 ch
Flügen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: flehen is [ˈfleːən] while Flügen is [ˈflyːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60787, 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]. Flügen is at rank #20,251, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈflyːɡn̩].

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 60787, this pair ranks #774,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of flehen vs Flügen

Shared letters: efln. Private to "flehen": h. Private to "Flügen": .

"flehen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Flügen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flehenfflehen · fleehn · flehenn · flehhen · flehne · flheen · fllehen · lfehen

Frequency comparison

flehen#40,536
Flügen#20,251

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flehen" and "Flügen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "flehen" is a verb and "Flügen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "flehen" or "Flügen"?
"Flügen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,251 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.

Remembering flehen vs Flügen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “flehen”; for a noun, it's “Flügen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “flehen” 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