fliegenvsfliegtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,845
“fliegen” frequency rank
#3,960
“fliegt” frequency rank
5805
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fliegen fliegt
Definition sich ohne Bodenkontakt in der Luft, im freien Raum fortbewegen (mithilfe von Flügeln, eines Antriebs, eines Flugzeugs oder Ähnlichem) 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fliegen

Where the eye mixes fliegen and fliegt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fliegen runs 7 letters (CCVVCVC) against fliegt's 6 (CCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
fliegen
6 ch
fliegt

Visual trap between fliegen and fliegt

A purely visual mix-up. fliegen ([ˈfliːɡn̩]) and fliegt ([fliːkt]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fliegen is recorded at frequency rank #1,845, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfliːɡn̩]. fliegt is at rank #3,960, tagged as averb, pronounced [fliːkt].

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 5805, this pair ranks #1,993,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fliegen vs fliegt

Shared letters: efgil. Private to "fliegen": n. Private to "fliegt": t.

"fliegen" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "fliegt" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fliegenffliegen · filegen · fleigen · flieegn · fliegenn · flieggen · fliegne · fligeen
  • fliegtffliegt · filegt · fleigt · flieggt · fliegtt · flietg · fliget · flliegt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fliegen" and "fliegt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfliːɡn̩] versus [fliːkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fliegen" or "fliegt"?
"fliegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,845 in our German list, against #3,960 for "fliegt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fliegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fliegt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,993,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fliegen" and "fliegt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fleht vs fliegt". 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 #1,993,675 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