mosvsmyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mos is a particle, my is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mos” is a particle and “my” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,532
“mos” frequency rank
#2,119
“my” frequency rank
41651
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mos my
Definition verleiht einer Aufforderung, Aussage, Frage oder einem Wunsch eine gewisse Nachdrücklichkeit possessives Personalpronomen für die 1. Person Singular; mein

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mos and my apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
mos
2 ch
my

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

mos and my form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mos is recorded at frequency rank #39,532, classified as aparticle, pronounced [mos]. my is at rank #2,119, tagged as apron, pronounced [maɪ].

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 41651, this pair ranks #1,473,085 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

mos#39,532
my#2,119

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mos" and "my" be used interchangeably?
No, "mos" and "my" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering mos vs my

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a particle, it's “mos”; for a pronoun, it's “my”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mos” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list