Which to use
“Phase” is a noun and “plage” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,407
- “Phase” frequency rank
- #24,073
- “plage” frequency rank
- 26480
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Phase | plage |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | stetig verlaufender Entwicklungsabschnitt oder stetiger zeitlicher Ablauf | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs plagen |
Where the eye mixes Phase and plage
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Phase with plage
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Phase is [ˈfaːzə] while plage is [ˈplaːɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26480, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Phase is recorded at frequency rank #2,407, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːzə]. plage is at rank #24,073, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈplaːɡə].
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 26480, this pair ranks #1,817,391 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Phase vs plage
Shared letters: aep. Private to "Phase": hs. Private to "plage": gl.
"Phase" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "plage" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Phase" for "plage" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Phase" or "plage" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Phase" and "plage" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Phase" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,817,391 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Phase" and "plage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plage vs plata". 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 #1,817,391 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.