Which to use
“plagen” is a verb and “plane” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,074
- “plagen” frequency rank
- #9,072
- “plane” frequency rank
- 33146
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plagen | plane |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich großen Anstrengungen unterziehen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs plan |
Where the eye mixes plagen and plane
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: plagen vs plane
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: plagen is [ˈplaːɡn̩] while plane is [ˈplaːnə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plagen is recorded at frequency rank #24,074, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈplaːɡn̩]. plane is at rank #9,072, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈplaːnə].
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 33146, this pair ranks #1,692,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of plagen vs plane
Shared letters: aelnp. Private to "plagen": g. Private to "plane": -.
"plagen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "plane" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "plagen" and "plane" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "plagen" or "plane"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "plagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plane" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,692,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plagen" and "plane" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plagen vs Planken". 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 #1,692,278 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.