mouvsmurTell them apart

Quick tell: mou is a adjective, mur is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mou” is an adjective and “mur” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,072
“mou” frequency rank
#49,813
“mur” frequency rank
95885
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mou mur
Definition Blando. Ratón (roedor).

Where the eye mixes mou and mur

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mou (CVV) and mur (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
mou
3 ch
mur

Look-alike desk: mou vs mur

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mou is [mu] while mur is [ˈmuɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 95885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mou is recorded at frequency rank #46,072, classified as anadj, pronounced [mu]. mur is at rank #49,813, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmuɾ].

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 95885, this pair ranks #454 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mou vs mur

Shared letters: mu. Private to "mou": o. Private to "mur": r.

"mou" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "mur" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mou" for "mur" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mou" is an adjective and "mur" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "mou" vs "mur" - which ranks higher?
"mou" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #46,072 in our Spanish list, against #49,813 for "mur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #454 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mou" and "mur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mop vs mur". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #454 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list