noun
effort, trouble
B1
Mühe (die) primarily means 'effort' or 'trouble' (difficulty). Singular often denotes effort (viel Mühe), plural Mühen refers to efforts or troubles. Feminine noun with plural Mühen (dative den Mühen). Common collocations: 'sich Mühe geben' (to make an effort). No special preposition.
Examples
Mit viel Mühe hat er das Examen bestanden.
With great effort, he passed the exam.
Er hat viel Mühe in das Projekt gesteckt.
He put a lot of effort into the project.
Die Gärtner hatten viel Mühe, weil das Unkraut im Sommer stark wuchs.
The gardeners had a lot of trouble because the weeds grew heavily during the summer.
Details
Mnemonics
Imagine pushing a heavy cart with a sign 'die Mühe' stuck to it to visualize effort
Sounds like 'mew-huh' — think of someone mewing while working hard
Feminine: imagine a female character named 'Mia' (Mühe) working hard — 'die' for female
Notes
Can mean both a neutral 'effort' or a slightly negative 'trouble' depending on context. Collocates with verbs like 'sich Mühe geben'.