MüllervsMusterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,362
“Müller” frequency rank
#4,061
“Muster” frequency rank
5423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Müller Muster
Definition meist selbstständiger Handwerker, Gewerbetreibender, aber auch Arbeiter, der in einer Mühle das Getreide oder anderes Mahlgut, zum Beispiel ölhaltige Pflanzenteile ( Ölmüller), lagert, reinigt und mahlt; einer, der Mehl herstellt gleichbleibende Struktur, die einer sich wiederholenden Sache zu Grunde liegt

Where the eye mixes Müller and Muster

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

6 ch
Müller
6 ch
Muster

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Müller ([ˈmʏlɐ]) and Muster ([ˈmʊstɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Müller is recorded at frequency rank #1,362, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmʏlɐ]. Muster is at rank #4,061, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmʊstɐ].

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 5423, this pair ranks #1,994,798 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Müller vs Muster

Shared letters: emr. Private to "Müller": . Private to "Muster": stu.

"Müller" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Muster" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mustermmuster · msuter · musetr · musster · musterr · mustre · mustter · mutser

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Müller" and "Muster" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmʏlɐ] versus [ˈmʊstɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Müller" or "Muster"?
"Müller" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,362 in our German list, against #4,061 for "Muster". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Müller" and "Muster". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Müller" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Muster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,994,798 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Müller" and "Muster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mauser vs Muster". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list