Which to use
“plagen” and “prägten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,074
- “plagen” frequency rank
- #27,459
- “prägten” frequency rank
- 51533
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plagen | prägten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich großen Anstrengungen unterziehen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs prägen |
Where the eye mixes plagen and prägten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. plagen runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against prägten's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between plagen and prägten
A purely visual mix-up. plagen ([ˈplaːɡn̩]) and prägten ([ˈpʁɛːktn̩]) 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 51533, 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]. prägten is at rank #27,459, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpʁɛːktn̩].
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 51533, this pair ranks #1,131,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of plagen vs prägten
Shared letters: egnp. Private to "plagen": al. Private to "prägten": rtä.
"plagen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "prägten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- plagen ← lpagen · palgen · plaegn · plagenn · plaggen · plagne · plgaen · pllagen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "plagen" and "prägten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "plagen" or "prägten" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "plagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prägten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,131,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plagen" and "prägten" 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 #1,131,857 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.