verb

pflegen

care for · maintain · care

Sich um jemanden oder etwas kümmern, damit es gut geht oder besser wird.

Definition & meaning

pflegen is a German verb with several related meanings:

To care for or look after someone or something
This can mean providing personal care, nursing someone, or tending to a garden.
Example: Sie pflegt ihren Vater. — “She cares for her father.”
To maintain or keep something in good condition
Used for things such as relationships, traditions, buildings, or equipment.
Example: Er pflegt den Kontakt zu alten Freunden. — “He maintains contact with old friends.”
To cultivate or nurture
This meaning emphasizes helping something grow or develop, literally or figuratively.
Example: Die Familie pflegt alte Traditionen. — “The family keeps old traditions alive.”
To customarily or habitually do something
In this sense, it commonly appears with zu and an infinitive.
Example: Sie pflegt früh aufzustehen. — “She usually gets up early.”

Grammar & Word origin

pflegen is a regular, weak verb. Its principal forms are pflegte (simple past) and gepflegt (past participle); it forms the perfect with haben. [pflegte ] [gepflegt ] [haben ]

The verb is not separable and is not normally analyzed as a compound. It comes from Old High German pflēgan, meaning “to care for,” “protect,” or “manage.”

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms depend on the particular meaning:

[betreuen ] means “to look after” or “supervise,” often with an emphasis on ongoing responsibility.
[versorgen ] means “to provide for” or “take care of,” especially by supplying someone’s needs.
[sich kümmern um ] means “to take care of” or “attend to” something; it often emphasizes the effort or concern involved.
[warten ] means “to maintain” or “service” equipment and machinery, rather than to care for a person.
[hegen ] means “to nurture” or “cherish,” and often suggests gentle, attentive care.
[gewohnt sein ] means “to be accustomed to.” It can express a similar idea to habitual pflegen, but does not have all the verb’s other meanings.

There is no single antonym for pflegen across all its meanings. For care or maintenance, [vernachlässigen ] (“to neglect”) is a common opposite. For cultivating or nurturing, [verkümmern lassen ] (“to let something wither or languish”) can be an opposite. For a habitual action, the contrast depends on the action being described.