PflanzevspflanzenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#5,520
“Pflanze” frequency rank
#2,172
“pflanzen” frequency rank
7692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pflanze pflanzen
Definition eukaryotischer Organismus, der meist in der Lage ist, Photosynthese zu betreiben zum Anwachsen einsetzen

Where the eye mixes Pflanze and pflanzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Pflanze runs 7 letters (CCCVCCV) against pflanzen's 8 (CCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Pflanze
8 ch
pflanzen

Visual trap between Pflanze and pflanzen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pflanze is [ˈp͡flant͡sə] while pflanzen is [ˈp͡flant͡sn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Pflanze” sits inside “pflanzen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pflanze is recorded at frequency rank #5,520, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈp͡flant͡sə]. pflanzen is at rank #2,172, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈp͡flant͡sn̩].

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 7692, this pair ranks #1,987,262 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pflanze vs pflanzen

Shared letters: aeflnpz. Private to "Pflanze": -. Private to "pflanzen": -.

"Pflanze" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "pflanzen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pflanze ← fplanze · pfalnze · pfflanze · pflanez · pflannze · pflanzze · pflazne · pfllanze
  • pflanzen ← fplanzen · pfalnzen · pfflanzen · pflanezn · pflannzen · pflanzenn · pflanzne · pflanzzen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Pflanze" and "pflanzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Pflanze" is a noun and "pflanzen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Pflanze" or "pflanzen"?
"pflanzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,172 in our German list, against #5,520 for "Pflanze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pflanze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pflanzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,987,262 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pflanze" and "pflanzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pflanzen vs Planken". 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 #1,987,262 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