Which to use
“pflegen” is a verb and “pflegende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,872
- “pflegen” frequency rank
- #41,389
- “pflegende” frequency rank
- 47261
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pflegen | pflegende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich sorgend um jemanden oder etwas kümmern (häufig um einen anvertrauten Menschen) | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs pflegend |
Where the eye mixes pflegen and pflegende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. pflegen runs 7 letters (CCCVCVC) against pflegende's 9 (CCCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pflegen and pflegende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pflegen is [ˈp͡fleːɡn̩] while pflegende is [ˈp͡fleːɡn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “pflegen” sits inside “pflegende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pflegen is recorded at frequency rank #5,872, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈp͡fleːɡn̩]. pflegende is at rank #41,389, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈp͡fleːɡn̩də].
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 47261, this pair ranks #1,290,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pflegen vs pflegende
Shared letters: efglnp. Private to "pflegen": -. Private to "pflegende": d.
"pflegen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC · "pflegende" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pflegen" for "pflegende" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pflegen" or "pflegende"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pflegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pflegende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,290,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pflegen" and "pflegende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pflegende vs pflegenden". 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 #1,290,578 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.