MäusevsMuteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,350
“Mäuse” frequency rank
#40,098
“Mute” frequency rank
52448
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mäuse Mute
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Maus Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Mut

Where the eye mixes Mäuse and Mute

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Mäuse runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Mute's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Mäuse
4 ch
Mute

Visual trap between Mäuse and Mute

A purely visual mix-up. Mäuse ([ˈmɔɪ̯zə]) and Mute ([ˈmuːtə]) 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 52448, 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]. Mute is at rank #40,098, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmuːtə].

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 52448, this pair ranks #1,096,552 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Mäuse vs Mute

Shared letters: emu. Private to "Mäuse": sä. Private to "Mute": t.

"Mäuse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Mute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mute ← mmute · mtue · muet · umte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Mäuse" for "Mute" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɔɪ̯zə] versus [ˈmuːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Mäuse" vs "Mute" - which ranks higher?
"Mäuse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,350 in our German list, against #40,098 for "Mute". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "Mute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,096,552 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mäuse" and "Mute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Matze vs Mute". 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 #1,096,552 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