PflegevsPflugWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,676
“Pflege” frequency rank
#33,226
“Pflug” frequency rank
35902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pflege Pflug
Definition Fürsorge, Betreuung und Versorgung von Menschen oder Tieren, die gewisse Hilfe benötigen landwirtschaftliches Gerät zum Auflockern und Wenden des Ackerbodens

Where the eye mixes Pflege and Pflug

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Pflege runs 6 letters (CCCVCV) against Pflug's 5 (CCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Pflege
5 ch
Pflug

Look-alike desk: Pflege vs Pflug

A purely visual mix-up. Pflege ([ˈp͡fleːɡə]) and Pflug ([p͡fluːk]) 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 35902, 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]. Pflug is at rank #33,226, tagged as anoun, pronounced [p͡fluːk].

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 35902, this pair ranks #1,628,748 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pflege vs Pflug

Shared letters: fglp. Private to "Pflege": e. Private to "Pflug": u.

"Pflege" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV  ·  "Pflug" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pflege ← fplege · pfelge · pfflege · pfleeg · pflegge · pflgee · pfllege · plfege
  • Pflug ← fplug · pfflug · pflgu · pfllug · pflugg · pfulg · plfug · ppflug

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pflege" and "Pflug" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈp͡fleːɡə] versus [p͡fluːk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Pflege" or "Pflug" show up more?
"Pflege" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,676 in our German list, against #33,226 for "Pflug". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pflege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pflug" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,628,748 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pflege" and "Pflug" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pflug vs pflügen". 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 #1,628,748 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