MeternvsMutternTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,848
“Metern” frequency rank
#42,014
“Muttern” frequency rank
44862
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Metern Muttern
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Meter Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Mutter

Where the eye mixes Metern and Muttern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Metern
7 ch
Muttern

Look-alike desk: Metern vs Muttern

A purely visual mix-up. Metern ([ˈmeːtɐn]) and Muttern ([ˈmʊtɐn]) 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 44862, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Metern is recorded at frequency rank #2,848, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmeːtɐn]. Muttern is at rank #42,014, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmʊtɐn].

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 44862, this pair ranks #1,372,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Metern vs Muttern

Shared letters: emnrt. Private to "Metern": -. Private to "Muttern": u.

"Metern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Muttern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Meternemtern · meetrn · metenr · meternn · meterrn · metren · mettern · mmetern
  • Mutternmmuttern · mtutern · mutern · mutetrn · muttenr · mutternn · mutterrn · muttren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Metern" for "Muttern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmeːtɐn] versus [ˈmʊtɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Metern" or "Muttern"?
"Metern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,848 in our German list, against #42,014 for "Muttern". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Metern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Muttern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,372,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Metern" and "Muttern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Motten vs Muttern". 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 #1,372,278 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