Which to use
“pflegten” and “pflügen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,404
- “pflegten” frequency rank
- #48,382
- “pflügen” frequency rank
- 91786
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pflegten | pflügen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pflegen | mit einem Pflug tätig sein |
Where the eye mixes pflegten and pflügen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. pflegten runs 8 letters (CCCVCCVC) against pflügen's 7 (CCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pflegten and pflügen
A purely visual mix-up. pflegten ([ˈp͡fleːktn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pflegten is recorded at frequency rank #43,404, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈp͡fleːktn̩]. 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 91786, this pair ranks #34,999 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pflegten vs pflügen
Shared letters: efglnp. Private to "pflegten": t. Private to "pflügen": ü.
"pflegten" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "pflügen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pflegten ← fplegten · pfelgten · pfflegten · pflegetn · pfleggten · pflegtenn · pflegtne · pflegtten
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pflegten" and "pflügen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pflegten" or "pflügen"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pflegten" 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 #34,999 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pflegten" and "pflügen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pflug 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 #34,999 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.