Which to use
“mussten” and “mustern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,138
- “mussten” frequency rank
- #20,676
- “mustern” frequency rank
- 21814
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mussten | mustern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs müssen | etwas prüfend anschauen |
Where the eye mixes mussten and mustern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. mussten (CVCCCVC) and mustern (CVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between mussten and mustern
A purely visual mix-up. mussten ([ˈmʊstn̩]) and mustern ([ˈmʊstɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mussten is recorded at frequency rank #1,138, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmʊstn̩]. mustern is at rank #20,676, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmʊstɐn].
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 21814, this pair ranks #1,881,835 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mussten vs mustern
Shared letters: emnstu. Private to "mussten": -. Private to "mustern": r.
"mussten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "mustern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mussten" and "mustern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "mussten" or "mustern" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mussten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mustern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,881,835 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mussten" and "mustern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mustern vs Muttern". 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 #1,881,835 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.