Which to use
“magst” and “must” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,390
- “magst” frequency rank
- #11,712
- “must” frequency rank
- 15102
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | magst | must |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs mögen | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs musen |
Where the eye mixes magst and must
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses magst with must
A purely visual mix-up. magst ([maːkst]) and must ([muːst]) 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 15102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
magst is recorded at frequency rank #3,390, classified as averb, pronounced [maːkst]. must is at rank #11,712, tagged as averb, pronounced [muːst].
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 15102, this pair ranks #1,946,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of magst vs must
Shared letters: mst. Private to "magst": ag. Private to "must": u.
"magst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "must" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "magst" and "must" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "magst" or "must" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "magst" and "must" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "magst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "must" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,946,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "magst" and "must" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "münz vs must". 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 #1,946,377 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.