MansvsMussTell them apart

Which to use

“Mans” and “Muss” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,771
“Mans” frequency rank
#83
“Muss” frequency rank
9854
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mans Muss
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Man etwas, das absolut notwendig ist

Letter map: Mans vs Muss

Shared letters muted; letters that set Mans and Muss apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
Mans
4 ch
Muss

Corpus notes: Mans and Muss

Mans and Muss are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9854, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mans is recorded at frequency rank #9,771, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. Muss is at rank #83, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mʊs].

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 9854, this pair ranks #1,977,981 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Mans vs Muss

Shared letters: ms. Private to "Mans": an. Private to "Muss": u.

"Mans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Muss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mansamns · manss · masn · mmans · mnas
  • Mussmmuss · msus · muß · umss

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Mans" for "Muss" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "Mans" vs "Muss" - which ranks higher?
"Muss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #83 in our German list, against #9,771 for "Mans". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Mans" and "Muss".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Muss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,977,981 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mans" and "Muss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mans vs puzzles". 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 #1,977,981 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