MeisternvsmusternWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Meistern is a noun, mustern is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Meistern” is a noun and “mustern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,288
“Meistern” frequency rank
#20,676
“mustern” frequency rank
31964
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Meistern mustern
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Meister etwas prüfend anschauen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Meistern and mustern apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
Meistern
7 ch
mustern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Meistern is [ˈmaɪ̯stɐn] while mustern is [ˈmʊstɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Meistern is recorded at frequency rank #11,288, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯stɐn]. mustern is at rank #20,676, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmʊstɐn].

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 31964, this pair ranks #1,717,556 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Meistern vs mustern

Shared letters: emnrst. Private to "Meistern": i. Private to "mustern": u.

"Meistern" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC  ·  "mustern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Meisternemistern · meisetrn · meisstern · meistenr · meisternn · meisterrn · meistren · meisttern
  • musternmmustern · msutern · musetrn · musstern · mustenr · musternn · musterrn · mustren

Frequency comparison

Meistern#11,288
mustern#20,676

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Meistern" and "mustern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Meistern" is a noun and "mustern" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Meistern" or "mustern"?
"Meistern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,288 in our German list, against #20,676 for "mustern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Meistern vs mustern

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Meistern”; for a verb, it's “mustern”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Meistern” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list