pflanztvsplanstTell them apart

Which to use

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

#36,548
“pflanzt” frequency rank
#40,139
“planst” frequency rank
76687
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pflanzt planst
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pflanzen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs planen

Where the eye mixes pflanzt and planst

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

7 ch
pflanzt
6 ch
planst

Why the eye confuses pflanzt with planst

A purely visual mix-up. pflanzt ([p͡flant͡st]) and planst ([plaːnst]) 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 76687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pflanzt is recorded at frequency rank #36,548, classified as averb, pronounced [p͡flant͡st]. planst is at rank #40,139, tagged as averb, pronounced [plaːnst].

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 76687, this pair ranks #278,047 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pflanzt vs planst

Shared letters: alnpt. Private to "pflanzt": fz. Private to "planst": s.

"pflanzt" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCC  ·  "planst" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pflanzt ← fplanzt · pfalnzt · pfflanzt · pflannzt · pflantz · pflanztt · pflanzzt · pflaznt
  • planst ← lpanst · palnst · plannst · plansst · planstt · plasnt · pllanst · plnast

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pflanzt" for "planst" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([p͡flant͡st] versus [plaːnst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pflanzt" or "planst"?
"pflanzt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,548 in our German list, against #40,139 for "planst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "pflanzt" and "planst" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pflanzt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "planst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #278,047 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pflanzt" and "planst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "planst vs plants". 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 #278,047 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