Which to use
“pflegen” and “pflegten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,872
- “pflegen” frequency rank
- #43,404
- “pflegten” frequency rank
- 49276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pflegen | pflegten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich sorgend um jemanden oder etwas kümmern (häufig um einen anvertrauten Menschen) | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pflegen |
Where the eye mixes pflegen and pflegten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. pflegen runs 7 letters (CCCVCVC) against pflegten's 8 (CCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pflegen and pflegten
A purely visual mix-up. pflegen ([ˈp͡fleːɡn̩]) and pflegten ([ˈp͡fleːktn̩]) 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 49276, 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]. pflegten is at rank #43,404, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈp͡fleːktn̩].
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 49276, this pair ranks #1,217,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pflegen vs pflegten
Shared letters: efglnp. Private to "pflegen": -. Private to "pflegten": t.
"pflegen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC · "pflegten" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pflegen" and "pflegten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "pflegen" or "pflegten" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pflegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pflegten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,217,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pflegen" and "pflegten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pflegten 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 #1,217,520 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.