Which to use
“pflegt” and “pflegte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,339
- “pflegt” frequency rank
- #16,513
- “pflegte” frequency rank
- 26852
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pflegt | pflegte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pflegen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pflegen |
Where the eye mixes pflegt and pflegte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. pflegt runs 6 letters (CCCVCC) against pflegte's 7 (CCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: pflegt vs pflegte
A purely visual mix-up. pflegt ([p͡fleːkt]) 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 differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “pflegt” sits inside “pflegte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26852, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pflegt is recorded at frequency rank #10,339, classified as averb, pronounced [p͡fleːkt]. 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 26852, this pair ranks #1,811,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pflegt vs pflegte
Shared letters: efglpt. Private to "pflegt": -. Private to "pflegte": -.
"pflegt" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "pflegte" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pflegt" for "pflegte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pflegt" vs "pflegte" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pflegt" 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 #1,811,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pflegt" 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 #1,811,372 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.