mögenvsMöseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mögen is a verb, Möse is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mögen” is a verb and “Möse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,705
“mögen” frequency rank
#27,428
“Möse” frequency rank
29133
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mögen Möse
Definition etwas mag sein: etwas ist möglicherweise (vielleicht) oder vermutlich der Fall äußere Geschlechtsorgane der Frau

Where the eye mixes mögen and Möse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
mögen
4 ch
Möse

Visual trap between mögen and Möse

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mögen is [ˈmøːɡn̩] while Möse is [ˈmøːzə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29133, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mögen is recorded at frequency rank #1,705, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmøːɡn̩]. Möse is at rank #27,428, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmøːzə].

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 29133, this pair ranks #1,772,412 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mögen vs Möse

Shared letters: emö. Private to "mögen": gn. Private to "Möse": s.

"mögen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Möse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mögen" for "Möse" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mögen" is a verb and "Möse" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "mögen" or "Möse" show up more?
"mögen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,705 in our German list, against #27,428 for "Möse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mögen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Möse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,772,412 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mögen" and "Möse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mora vs Möse". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,772,412 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