Which to use
“musste” and “mussten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #368
- “musste” frequency rank
- #1,138
- “mussten” frequency rank
- 1506
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | musste | mussten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs müssen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs müssen |
Where the eye mixes musste and mussten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. musste runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against mussten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: musste vs mussten
A purely visual mix-up. musste ([ˈmʊstə]) and mussten ([ˈmʊstn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “musste” sits inside “mussten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
musste is recorded at frequency rank #368, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmʊstə]. mussten is at rank #1,138, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmʊstn̩].
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 1506, this pair ranks #2,004,218 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of musste vs mussten
Shared letters: emstu. Private to "musste": -. Private to "mussten": n.
"musste" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "mussten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "musste" and "mussten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "musste" or "mussten"?
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 "musste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mussten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,004,218 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "musste" and "mussten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "muscle vs musste". 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 #2,004,218 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.