musternvsMusterungWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mustern is a verb, Musterung is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mustern” is a verb and “Musterung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,676
“mustern” frequency rank
#39,535
“Musterung” frequency rank
60211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mustern Musterung
Definition etwas prüfend anschauen prüfende Betrachtung, Untersuchung von etwas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mustern and Musterung apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
mustern
9 ch
Musterung

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mustern is [ˈmʊstɐn] while Musterung is [ˈmʊstəʁʊŋ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mustern is recorded at frequency rank #20,676, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmʊstɐn]. Musterung is at rank #39,535, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmʊstəʁʊŋ].

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 60211, this pair ranks #795,505 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mustern vs Musterung

Shared letters: emnrstu. Private to "mustern": -. Private to "Musterung": g.

"mustern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Musterung" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • musternmmustern · msutern · musetrn · musstern · mustenr · musternn · musterrn · mustren
  • Musterungmmusterung · msuterung · musetrung · mussterung · musternug · musterrung · musterugn · musterungg

Frequency comparison

mustern#20,676
Musterung#39,535

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mustern" and "Musterung" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mustern" is a verb and "Musterung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mustern" or "Musterung"?
"mustern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,676 in our German list, against #39,535 for "Musterung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mustern vs Musterung

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “mustern”; for a noun, it's “Musterung”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mustern” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list