mus vs müsse, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#22,072
“mus” frequency rank: #2,312
“müsse” frequency rank: 24384
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	mus	müsse
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs musen	1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens des Verbs müssen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mus and müsse apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

mus

5 ch

müsse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mus ([muːs]) and müsse ([ˈmʏsə]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mus is recorded at frequency rank #22,072, classified as averb, pronounced [muːs]. müsse is at rank #2,312, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmʏsə].

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 24384, this pair ranks #1,848,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mus vs müsse

Shared letters: ms. Private to "mus": u. Private to "müsse": eü.

"mus" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "müsse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequency comparison

mus#22,072

müsse#2,312

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mus" and "müsse" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([muːs] versus [ˈmʏsə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "mus" or "müsse"?

"müsse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,312 in our German list, against #22,072 for "mus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mus vs müsse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mus” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable