Which to use
“Muss” is a noun and “müssen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #83
- “Muss” frequency rank
- #154
- “müssen” frequency rank
- 237
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Muss | müssen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas, das absolut notwendig ist | unausweichlich gezwungen sein, etwas zu tun oder zu erleiden |
Where the eye mixes Muss and müssen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Muss is [mʊs] while müssen is [ˈmʏsn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Muss is recorded at frequency rank #83, classified as anoun, pronounced [mʊs]. müssen is at rank #154, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmʏsn̩].
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 237, this pair ranks #2,006,114 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Muss vs müssen
Shared letters: ms. Private to "Muss": u. Private to "müssen": enü.
"Muss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "müssen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Muss ← mmuss · msus · muß · umss