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pflegen. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
pflegen, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
pflegen in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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German
Etymology
From Middle High German phlëgen, from Old High German plëgan, from Proto-West Germanic *plehan.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpfleːɡən/, , (standard)
- IPA(key): /ˈfleːɡən/ (most speakers in northern and central Germany)
Verb
pflegen (weak, third-person singular present pflegt, past tense pflegte, past participle gepflegt, auxiliary haben) or
pflegen (class 4 strong, third-person singular present pflegt, past tense pflog, past participle gepflogen, past subjunctive pflöge, auxiliary haben)
- Providing care or service for someone/something.
- (transitive, medicine) to nurse; to care for someone in poor health
- jemanden gesund pflegen ― to nurse someone back to health
- Kranke pflegen ― to care for the sick
- (transitive) to take care of, to tend to, to maintain
- sein Äußeres pflegen ― to take care of one's appearance
- die Zähne pflegen ― to take care of (one's) teeth
- Der Gärtner pflegt den Garten. ― The gardener tends to the garden.
- Sie hat sich stets sehr gepflegt. ― She has always taken care of her appearance. (literally, “She has always taken care of herself.”)
- Er setzte sich faul hin und pflegte sich. ― He sat down lazily and went easy on himself. (literally, “He sat down lazily and looked after himself.”)
- Daten pflegen ― to maintain data (keep up-to-date)
- (intransitive, archaic, with genitive)
1781, Friedrich Schiller, Die Räuber: Ein Schauspiel, Frankfurt und Leipzig, page 43:Daheim labt er sich mit süssem köstlichem Wein, und pflegt seiner morschen Glieder in Kissen von Eider, während sein grosser herrlicher Sohn darbt.- At home, he refreshes himself with sweet, delectable wine and cares for his decaying limbs with cushions of down feathers, all while his wonderful and charming son starves.
- To improve or care for something in an intellectual sense.
- (transitive) to cultivate; to foster; to nurture; to maintain
- Freundschaften pflegen ― to cultivate friendships
- Beziehungen pflegen ― to cultivate relationships
- Künste und Wissenschaften pflegen ― to advance/promote the arts and sciences
- (intransitive, higher register or poetic, with genitive)
- der Liebe pflegen ― to cultivate/nurture love
- der Ruhe pflegen ― to foster tranquility
- Expressing habituality.
- (transitive) to carry out regularly
- Umgang pflegen ― to regularly be in contact
- Geselligkeit pflegen ― to socialize regularly (literally, “to regularly engage in gregariousness”)
- (intransitive, with “zu” followed by an infinitive verb) to perform habitually; to be accustomed (to doing something); to be in the habit (of doing something)
- Ich pflege zu laufen. ― I usually walk.
- Er pflegte zu reisen. ― He used to travel.
Usage notes
- In the sense of providing care or service, pflegen is conjugated as a weak verb.
- For the other senses, both weak and strong conjugations are found. The weak conjugation is prevalent; the strong conjugation is generally dated or used in a higher register.
Conjugation
Conjugation of
pflegen (
weak, auxiliary
haben)
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of
pflegen (
weak, auxiliary
haben)
or
Conjugation of
pflegen (class 4
strong, auxiliary
haben)
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of
pflegen (class 4
strong, auxiliary
haben)
Derived terms
Further reading