MäusevsMauserTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,350
“Mäuse” frequency rank
#49,071
“Mauser” frequency rank
61421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mäuse Mauser
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Maus das Wechseln des Gefieders beziehungsweise der Federn bei Vögeln

Where the eye mixes Mäuse and Mauser

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Mäuse runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Mauser's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Mäuse
6 ch
Mauser

Why the eye confuses Mäuse with Mauser

A purely visual mix-up. Mäuse ([ˈmɔɪ̯zə]) and Mauser ([ˈmaʊ̯zɐ]) 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 61421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mäuse is recorded at frequency rank #12,350, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɔɪ̯zə]. Mauser is at rank #49,071, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaʊ̯zɐ].

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 61421, this pair ranks #750,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Mäuse vs Mauser

Shared letters: emsu. Private to "Mäuse": ä. Private to "Mauser": ar.

"Mäuse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Mauser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mauser ← amuser · masuer · mauesr · mauserr · mausre · mausser · mmauser · muaser

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Mäuse" for "Mauser" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɔɪ̯zə] versus [ˈmaʊ̯zɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Mäuse" vs "Mauser" - which ranks higher?
"Mäuse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,350 in our German list, against #49,071 for "Mauser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mäuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mauser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #750,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mäuse" and "Mauser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Madsen vs Mauser". 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 #750,419 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