Which to use
“pflegen” and “pflegte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,872
- “pflegen” frequency rank
- #16,513
- “pflegte” frequency rank
- 22385
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pflegen | pflegte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich sorgend um jemanden oder etwas kümmern (häufig um einen anvertrauten Menschen) | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pflegen |
Where the eye mixes pflegen and pflegte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. pflegen (CCCVCVC) and pflegte (CCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses pflegen with pflegte
A purely visual mix-up. pflegen ([ˈp͡fleːɡn̩]) and pflegte ([ˈp͡fleːktə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22385, 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]. 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 22385, this pair ranks #1,874,817 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pflegen vs pflegte
Shared letters: efglp. Private to "pflegen": n. Private to "pflegte": t.
"pflegen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC · "pflegte" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pflegen" for "pflegte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "pflegen" or "pflegte" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pflegen" and "pflegte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pflegen" 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 #1,874,817 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pflegen" 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 #1,874,817 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.