PflegevsplageWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,676
“Pflege” frequency rank
#24,073
“plage” frequency rank
26749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pflege plage
Definition Fürsorge, Betreuung und Versorgung von Menschen oder Tieren, die gewisse Hilfe benötigen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs plagen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Pflege and plage apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Pflege
5 ch
plage

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pflege is [ˈp͡fleːɡə] while plage is [ˈplaːɡə]. 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 26749, 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]. plage is at rank #24,073, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈplaːɡə].

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 26749, this pair ranks #1,813,038 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pflege vs plage

Shared letters: eglp. Private to "Pflege": f. Private to "plage": a.

"Pflege" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV  ·  "plage" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pflegefplege · pfelge · pfflege · pfleeg · pflegge · pflgee · pfllege · plfege
  • plagelpage · palge · plaeg · plagge · plgae · pllage · pplage

Frequency comparison

Pflege#2,676
plage#24,073

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pflege" and "plage" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Pflege" is a noun and "plage" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Pflege" or "plage"?
"Pflege" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,676 in our German list, against #24,073 for "plage". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Pflege vs plage

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 “plage”.
  • 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