Which to use
“mies” is an adjective and “mir” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,597
- “mies” frequency rank
- #62
- “mir” frequency rank
- 8659
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mies | mir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | auf verdrießlicher, ärgerlicher, ablehnender Art und Weise schlecht; wertlos, elend, übel | Dativ der ersten Person Singular |
Where the eye mixes mies and mir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mies with mir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mies is [miːs] while mir is [miːɐ̯]. 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 (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mies is recorded at frequency rank #8,597, classified as anadj, pronounced [miːs]. mir is at rank #62, tagged as apron, pronounced [miːɐ̯].
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 8659, this pair ranks #1,983,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mies vs mir
Shared letters: im. Private to "mies": es. Private to "mir": r.
"mies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mir" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mies ← imes · meis · miess · mise · mmies
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mies" for "mir" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "mies" or "mir" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,983,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mies" and "mir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mies vs Milfs". 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 #1,983,395 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.