Which to use
“Pfaden” is a noun and “plagen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,750
- “Pfaden” frequency rank
- #24,074
- “plagen” frequency rank
- 64824
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Pfaden | plagen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Pfad | sich großen Anstrengungen unterziehen |
Where the eye mixes Pfaden and plagen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Pfaden and plagen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Pfaden and plagen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pfaden is [ˈp͡faːdn̩] while plagen is [ˈplaːɡn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64824, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Pfaden is recorded at frequency rank #40,750, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈp͡faːdn̩]. plagen is at rank #24,074, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈplaːɡn̩].
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 64824, this pair ranks #627,988 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Pfaden vs plagen
Shared letters: aenp. Private to "Pfaden": df. Private to "plagen": gl.
"Pfaden" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "plagen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Pfaden" and "plagen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Pfaden" or "plagen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Pfaden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #627,988 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pfaden" and "plagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Paraden vs Pfaden". 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 #627,988 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.