Which to use
“müssen” and “musst” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #154
- “müssen” frequency rank
- #755
- “musst” frequency rank
- 909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | müssen | musst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unausweichlich gezwungen sein, etwas zu tun oder zu erleiden | 2. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ des Verbs müssen |
Where the eye mixes müssen and musst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. müssen ([ˈmʏsn̩]) and musst ([mʊst]) 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 909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
müssen is recorded at frequency rank #154, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmʏsn̩]. musst is at rank #755, tagged as averb, pronounced [mʊst].
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 909, this pair ranks #2,005,174 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of müssen vs musst
Shared letters: ms. Private to "müssen": enü. Private to "musst": tu.
"müssen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "musst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- musst ← mmusst · msust · musstt · musts · mußt · umsst