Which to use
“pflegen” and “pflügen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,872
- “pflegen” frequency rank
- #48,382
- “pflügen” frequency rank
- 54254
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pflegen | pflügen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich sorgend um jemanden oder etwas kümmern (häufig um einen anvertrauten Menschen) | mit einem Pflug tätig sein |
Where the eye mixes pflegen and pflügen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. pflegen and pflügen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: pflegen vs pflügen
A purely visual mix-up. pflegen ([ˈp͡fleːɡn̩]) and pflügen ([ˈp͡flyːɡn̩]) 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 a single letter - e in “pflegen” becomes ü in “pflügen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54254, 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]. pflügen is at rank #48,382, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈp͡flyːɡn̩].
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 54254, this pair ranks #1,025,991 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pflegen vs pflügen
Shared letters: efglnp. Private to "pflegen": -. Private to "pflügen": ü.
"pflegen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC · "pflügen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pflegen ← fplegen · pfelgen · pfflegen · pfleegn · pflegenn · pfleggen · pflegne · pflgeen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pflegen" and "pflügen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "pflegen" or "pflügen" show up more?
What to do next
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 "pflügen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,025,991 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pflegen" and "pflügen" 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 #1,025,991 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.