MassevsmouseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,815
“Masse” frequency rank
#31,186
“mouse” frequency rank
33001
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Masse mouse
Definition die Ursache, dass der Materie Trägheit und Schwere (Gravitation) eigen sind; nach der Relativitätstheorie mit Kraft (Energie) gleichwertig (äquivalent) Nagetier (Plural 1); Maus

Where the eye mixes Masse and mouse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Masse
5 ch
mouse

Visual trap between Masse and mouse

A purely visual mix-up. Masse ([ˈmasə]) and mouse ([maʊs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Masse is recorded at frequency rank #1,815, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmasə]. mouse is at rank #31,186, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maʊs].

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 33001, this pair ranks #1,695,435 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Masse vs mouse

Shared letters: ems. Private to "Masse": a. Private to "mouse": ou.

"Masse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mouse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Masseamsse · mase · mases · maße · mmasse · msase
  • mousemmouse · mosue · moues · mousse · muose · omuse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Masse" and "mouse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmasə] versus [maʊs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Masse" or "mouse"?
"Masse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,815 in our German list, against #31,186 for "mouse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Masse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mouse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,695,435 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Masse" and "mouse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mauser vs mouse". 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 #1,695,435 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