causavsClausConfusable pair

Quick tell: causa is a noun, Claus is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“causa” is a noun and “Claus” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,115
“causa” frequency rank
#7,449
“Claus” frequency rank
23564
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature causa Claus
Definition Grund, Ursache; auch Fachwort für Klassifikation männlicher Vorname

Letter map: causa vs Claus

Shared letters muted; letters that set causa and Claus apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
causa
5 ch
Claus

Grammar separator: causa vs Claus

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: causa is anoun and Clausaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23564, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

causa is recorded at frequency rank #16,115, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. Claus is at rank #7,449, tagged as aname, pronounced [klaʊ̯s].

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 23564, this pair ranks #1,859,623 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of causa vs Claus

Shared letters: acsu. Private to "causa": -. Private to "Claus": l.

"causa" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Claus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • causaacusa · casua · cauas · caussa · ccausa · cuasa
  • Clauscalus · cclaus · clasu · clauss · cllaus · cluas · lcaus

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "causa" for "Claus" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "causa" is a noun and "Claus" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "causa" vs "Claus" - which ranks higher?
"Claus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,449 in our German list, against #16,115 for "causa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "causa" and "Claus".

  • Full dictionary entry for "causa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Claus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,859,623 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "causa" and "Claus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "causa vs puzzles". 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 #1,859,623 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