Which to use
“Pflege” is a noun and “pflegte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,676
- “Pflege” frequency rank
- #16,513
- “pflegte” frequency rank
- 19189
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Pflege | pflegte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fürsorge, Betreuung und Versorgung von Menschen oder Tieren, die gewisse Hilfe benötigen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pflegen |
Where the eye mixes Pflege and pflegte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Pflege runs 6 letters (CCCVCV) against pflegte's 7 (CCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Pflege and pflegte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pflege is [ˈp͡fleːɡə] while pflegte is [ˈp͡fleːktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19189, 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]. pflegte is at rank #16,513, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈp͡fleːktə].
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 19189, this pair ranks #1,910,925 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Pflege vs pflegte
Shared letters: efglp. Private to "Pflege": -. Private to "pflegte": t.
"Pflege" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV · "pflegte" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Pflege" for "pflegte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Pflege" or "pflegte"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Pflege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pflegte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,910,925 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pflege" and "pflegte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pflegte vs pflegten". 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 #1,910,925 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.