missenvsmüsseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,697
“missen” frequency rank
#2,312
“müsse” frequency rank
24009
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature missen müsse
Definition etwas entbehren 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens des Verbs müssen

Where the eye mixes missen and müsse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
missen
5 ch
müsse

Look-alike desk: missen vs müsse

A purely visual mix-up. missen ([ˈmɪsn̩]) and müsse ([ˈmʏsə]) 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 24009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

missen is recorded at frequency rank #21,697, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɪsn̩]. müsse is at rank #2,312, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmʏsə].

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 24009, this pair ranks #1,853,544 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of missen vs müsse

Shared letters: ems. Private to "missen": in. Private to "müsse": ü.

"missen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "müsse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • missenimssen · misen · misesn · missenn · missne · mißen · mmissen · msisen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "missen" and "müsse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɪsn̩] versus [ˈmʏsə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "missen" vs "müsse" - which ranks higher?
"müsse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,312 in our German list, against #21,697 for "missen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "missen" and "müsse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "missen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "müsse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,853,544 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "missen" and "müsse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Madsen vs missen". 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 #1,853,544 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