must

/[muːst]/ verb

Letters

4 characters

Frequency Rank

#11,712

in German word usage

Misspellings

5

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

must is aGermanverb. It means: 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs musen Pronounced [muːst]. Often confused with Mut and Mute.

Key facts for must
PropertyValue
Headwordmust
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[muːst]
Letters4
Frequency rank#11,712
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of must in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for must is 4 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [muːst]. Corpus data places it at rank #11,712 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for must, with forms such as "mmust", "msut", and "mustt". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Mut", "Mute", "Mutti", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is must, spelled M-U-S-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs musen
  2. 2
    2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs musen
  3. 3
    3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs musen
  4. 4
    2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs musen

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: mmust,msut,mustt,muts,umst

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for must

Misspelling Variants of "must"

mmust5msut4mustt5muts4umst4
Misspelling Variants of "must"

Frequency rank: #11,712 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "must"?
"must" is spelled M-U-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is [muːst].
What does "must" mean?
As a verb, "must" means: 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs musen
What words are commonly confused with "must"?
"must" is commonly confused with "Mut", "Mute", "Mutti". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "must"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "must" is [muːst]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "must" come from?
"must" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter M in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.