misstvsmussteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,755
“misst” frequency rank
#368
“musste” frequency rank
9123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature misst musste
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs messen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs müssen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set misst and musste apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
misst
6 ch
musste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. misst ([mɪst]) and musste ([ˈmʊstə]) 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 9123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

misst is recorded at frequency rank #8,755, classified as averb, pronounced [mɪst]. musste is at rank #368, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmʊstə].

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 9123, this pair ranks #1,981,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of misst vs musste

Shared letters: mst. Private to "misst": i. Private to "musste": eu.

"misst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "musste" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • misstimsst · misstt · mists · mißt · mmisst · msist
  • musstemmusste · msuste · musset · musstte · muste · mustse · mußte · umsste

Frequency comparison

misst#8,755
musste#368

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "misst" and "musste" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([mɪst] versus [ˈmʊstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "misst" or "musste"?
"musste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #368 in our German list, against #8,755 for "misst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering misst vs musste

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “misst” 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