PflegevspflegtWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,676
“Pflege” frequency rank
#10,339
“pflegt” frequency rank
13015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pflege pflegt
Definition Fürsorge, Betreuung und Versorgung von Menschen oder Tieren, die gewisse Hilfe benötigen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pflegen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Pflege and pflegt apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Pflege
6 ch
pflegt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Pflege and pflegt form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - e in “Pflege” becomes t in “pflegt” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pflege is recorded at frequency rank #2,676, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈp͡fleːɡə]. pflegt is at rank #10,339, tagged as averb, pronounced [p͡fleːkt].

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 13015, this pair ranks #1,960,638 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

Pflege#2,676
pflegt#10,339

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pflege" and "pflegt" be used interchangeably?
No, "Pflege" and "pflegt" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering Pflege vs pflegt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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