mig vs mis, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“mig” is an unknown and “mis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,671
“mig” frequency rank: #37,676
“mis” frequency rank: 75347
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	mig	mis
Definition	Akkusativ des Personalpronomens jeg	rotes, leicht formbares Metall, das sich gut als Stromleiter eignet; Kupfer

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mig and mis apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

mig

3 ch

mis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mig is [ˈmɑj] while mis is [mis]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “mig” becomes s in “mis”, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75347, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mig is recorded at frequency rank #37,671, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈmɑj]. mis is at rank #37,676, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mis].

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 75347, this pair ranks #310,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mig vs mis

Shared letters: im. Private to "mig": g. Private to "mis": s.

"mig" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

mig#37,671

mis#37,676

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mig" and "mis" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mig" is an unknown and "mis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "mig" or "mis"?

"mig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,671 in our German list, against #37,676 for "mis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mig vs mis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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