MausvsMinusWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,634
“Maus” frequency rank
#6,089
“Minus” frequency rank
10723
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Maus Minus
Definition kleines graues oder braunes Säugetier mit überwiegend langem Schwanz, rattenähnlich, in der Zuchtform auch weiß oder schwarz Fehlendes bei einer Abrechnung

Where the eye mixes Maus and Minus

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

4 ch
Maus
5 ch
Minus

Look-alike desk: Maus vs Minus

A purely visual mix-up. Maus ([maʊ̯s]) and Minus ([ˈmiːnʊs]) 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 10723, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Maus is recorded at frequency rank #4,634, classified as anoun, pronounced [maʊ̯s]. Minus is at rank #6,089, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmiːnʊs].

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 10723, this pair ranks #1,973,647 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Maus vs Minus

Shared letters: msu. Private to "Maus": a. Private to "Minus": in.

"Maus" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Minus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mausamus · masu · mauss · mmaus · muas
  • Minusimnus · minnus · minsu · minuss · miuns · mminus · mnius

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Maus" and "Minus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([maʊ̯s] versus [ˈmiːnʊs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Maus" vs "Minus" - which ranks higher?
"Maus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,634 in our German list, against #6,089 for "Minus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Maus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Minus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,973,647 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Maus" and "Minus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Milfs vs Minus". 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 #1,973,647 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