Which to use
“mustern” is a verb and “Mutter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,676
- “mustern” frequency rank
- #470
- “Mutter” frequency rank
- 21146
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mustern | Mutter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas prüfend anschauen | weiblicher Elternteil, der seine Kinder aufzieht und versorgt; Frau, welche ein oder mehrere Kinder geboren hat |
Where the eye mixes mustern and Mutter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mustern and Mutter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mustern is [ˈmʊstɐn] while Mutter is [ˈmʊtɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 21146, 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]. Mutter is at rank #470, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmʊtɐ].
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 21146, this pair ranks #1,889,636 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mustern vs Mutter
Shared letters: emrtu. Private to "mustern": ns. Private to "Mutter": -.
"mustern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "Mutter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mustern" and "Mutter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "mustern" or "Mutter"?
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 "mustern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Mutter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,889,636 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mustern" and "Mutter" 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 #1,889,636 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.