mittlervsMutterTell them apart

Quick tell: mittler is a adjective, Mutter is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mittler” is an adjective and “Mutter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,851
“mittler” frequency rank
#470
“Mutter” frequency rank
28321
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mittler Mutter
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mittel weiblicher Elternteil, der seine Kinder aufzieht und versorgt; Frau, welche ein oder mehrere Kinder geboren hat

Where the eye mixes mittler and Mutter

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

7 ch
mittler
6 ch
Mutter

Visual trap between mittler and Mutter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mittler is [ˈmɪtlɐ] while Mutter is [ˈmʊtɐ]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28321, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mittler is recorded at frequency rank #27,851, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmɪtlɐ]. Mutter is at rank #470, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmʊtɐ].

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 28321, this pair ranks #1,786,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mittler vs Mutter

Shared letters: emrt. Private to "mittler": il. Private to "Mutter": u.

"mittler" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Mutter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mittlerimttler · mitler · mitlter · mittelr · mittlerr · mittller · mittlre · mmittler
  • Muttermmutter · mtuter · muter · mutetr · mutterr · muttre · umtter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mittler" and "Mutter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mittler" is an adjective and "Mutter" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "mittler" vs "Mutter" - which ranks higher?
"Mutter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #470 in our German list, against #27,851 for "mittler". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mittler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mutter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,786,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mittler" and "Mutter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mittler vs mittlerem". 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 #1,786,865 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