Which to use
“mur” and “must” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,534
- “mur” frequency rank
- #11,712
- “must” frequency rank
- 38246
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mur | must |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs muren | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs musen |
Where the eye mixes mur and must
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mur with must
A purely visual mix-up. mur ([muːɐ̯]) and must ([muːst]) 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 38246, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mur is recorded at frequency rank #26,534, classified as averb, pronounced [muːɐ̯]. must is at rank #11,712, tagged as averb, pronounced [muːst].
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 38246, this pair ranks #1,568,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mur vs must
Shared letters: mu. Private to "mur": r. Private to "must": st.
"mur" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "must" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- must ← mmust · msut · mustt · muts · umst
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mur" and "must" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "mur" or "must"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "must" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,568,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mur" and "must" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mora vs mur". 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 #1,568,965 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.