FromMiddle High German phlëgen Old High German plëgan Proto-West Germanic *plehan
IPA (key ) : /ˈpfleːɡən/ ,[ˈpfleːɡən] ,[ˈpfleːɡŋ̩] ( standard ) IPA (key ) : /ˈfleːɡən/ ( most speakers in northern and central Germany ) pflegen (weak third-person singular present pflegt past tense pflegte past participle gepflegt auxiliary haben or pflegen (class 4strong ,third-person singular present pflegt past tense pflog past participle gepflogen past subjunctive pflöge auxiliary haben
providing care or service for someone/something [weak verb]( transitive , medicine ) nurse ; tocare for someone in poor healthjemandengesundpflegen ―tonurse someone back to health Krankepflegen ―tocare for the sick ( transitive ) take care of , totend to, tomaintain sein Äußerespflegen ―totake care of one's appearance die Zähnepflegen ―totake care of (one's) teeth Der Gärtnerpflegt den Garten. ―The gardenertends to the garden. Sie hat sich stets sehrgepflegt . ―She has alwaystaken care of her appearance. (literally, “She has alwaystaken care of herself. ”)Er setzte sich faul hin undpflegte sich. ―He sat down lazily andwent easy on himself. (literally, “He sat down lazily andlooked after himself. ”)Datenpflegen ―tomaintain data (keep up-to-date) ( intransitive , archaic ) with genitive ‘something/someone’ ]1781 Die Räuber: Ein Schauspiel , Frankfurt und Leipzig, page43 :Daheim labt er sich mit süssem köstlichem Wein, undpflegt seiner morschen Glieder in Kissen von Eider, während sein grosser herrlicher Sohn darbt. At home, he refreshes himself with sweet, delectable wine andcares 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 [weak or strong verb]( transitive ) cultivate ; tofoster ; tonurture ; tomaintain Freundschaftenpflegen ―tocultivate friendships Beziehungenpflegen ―tocultivate relationships Künste und Wissenschaftenpflegen ―toadvance /promote the arts and sciences ( intransitive , higher register or poetic ) with genitive ‘something’ ]der Liebepflegen ―tocultivate /nurture love der Ruhepflegen ―tofoster tranquility expressing habituality [weak or strong verb]( transitive ) carry out regularly Umgangpflegen ―toregularly be in contact Geselligkeitpflegen ―to socializeregularly (literally, “toregularly engage in gregariousness ”)( intransitive ) perform habitually ; to beaccustomed (to); to be in the habit (of)with zu ( +infinitive ) ‘doing something’ ]Ichpflege zu laufen. ―Iusually walk. Erpflegte zu reisen. ―Heused to travel. 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 generallydated or used in ahigher register . 1 Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative inwürde
Composed forms of
pflegen (
weak , auxiliary
haben )
or
1 Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative inwürde
Composed forms of
pflegen (class 4
strong , auxiliary
haben )
