MutevsMuttiTell them apart

Which to use

“Mute” and “Mutti” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,098
“Mute” frequency rank
#7,645
“Mutti” frequency rank
47743
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mute Mutti
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Mut Koseform zu Mutter

Where the eye mixes Mute and Mutti

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Mute
5 ch
Mutti

Look-alike desk: Mute vs Mutti

A purely visual mix-up. Mute ([ˈmuːtə]) and Mutti ([ˈmʊti]) 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 47743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mute is recorded at frequency rank #40,098, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmuːtə]. Mutti is at rank #7,645, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmʊti].

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 47743, this pair ranks #1,273,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Mute vs Mutti

Shared letters: mtu. Private to "Mute": e. Private to "Mutti": i.

"Mute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Mutti" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mutemmute · mtue · muet · umte
  • Muttimmutti · mtuti · muti · mutit · umtti

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Mute" for "Mutti" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmuːtə] versus [ˈmʊti]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Mute" or "Mutti" show up more?
"Mutti" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,645 in our German list, against #40,098 for "Mute". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mutti" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,273,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mute" and "Mutti" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Matze vs Mute". 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 #1,273,665 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list