Which to use
“pflegt” and “pflegten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,339
- “pflegt” frequency rank
- #43,404
- “pflegten” frequency rank
- 53743
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pflegt | pflegten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pflegen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pflegen |
Where the eye mixes pflegt and pflegten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. pflegt runs 6 letters (CCCVCC) against pflegten's 8 (CCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pflegt with pflegten
A purely visual mix-up. pflegt ([p͡fleːkt]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “pflegt” sits inside “pflegten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53743, 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]. 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 53743, this pair ranks #1,046,009 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pflegt vs pflegten
Shared letters: efglpt. Private to "pflegt": -. Private to "pflegten": n.
"pflegt" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "pflegten" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pflegt" for "pflegten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pflegt" vs "pflegten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pflegt" and "pflegten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pflegt" 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 #1,046,009 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pflegt" 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 #1,046,009 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.