PrügelvsprügelnTell them apart

Quick tell: Prügel is a noun, prügeln is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Prügel” is a noun and “prügeln” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,805
“Prügel” frequency rank
#15,976
“prügeln” frequency rank
32781
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Prügel prügeln
Definition Schläge, die im Zuge einer körperlichen Auseinandersetzung ausgeteilt werden auf jemanden, etwas mit oder ohne Hilfsmittel wiederholt einschlagen

Where the eye mixes Prügel and prügeln

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Prügel runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against prügeln's 7 (CCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Prügel
7 ch
prügeln

Why the eye confuses Prügel with prügeln

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Prügel is [ˈpʁyːɡl̩] while prügeln is [ˈpʁyːɡl̩n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Prügel” sits inside “prügeln”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Prügel is recorded at frequency rank #16,805, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpʁyːɡl̩]. prügeln is at rank #15,976, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpʁyːɡl̩n].

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 32781, this pair ranks #1,700,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Prügel vs prügeln

Shared letters: eglprü. Private to "Prügel": -. Private to "prügeln": n.

"Prügel" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "prügeln" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Prügel" for "prügeln" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Prügel" is a noun and "prügeln" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Prügel" vs "prügeln" - which ranks higher?
"prügeln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,976 in our German list, against #16,805 for "Prügel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Prügel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prügeln" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,700,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Prügel" and "prügeln" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Prügel vs prügelt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,700,179 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list