Which to use
“cl” is an abbrev and “clou” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,252
- “cl” frequency rank
- #39,272
- “clou” frequency rank
- 49524
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cl | clou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Zentiliter (= 0,01 l, 10⁻² l, ein hundertstel Liter) | Nagel |
Letter map: cl vs clou
Shared letters muted; letters that set cl and clou apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: cl vs clou
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cl is anabbrev and clouanoun. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cl” sits inside “clou”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49524, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cl is recorded at frequency rank #10,252, classified as anabbrev. clou is at rank #39,272, tagged as anoun, pronounced [klu].
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 49524, this pair ranks #1,208,276 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cl vs clou
Shared letters: cl. Private to "cl": -. Private to "clou": ou.
"cl" · 2 letters · shape CC · "clou" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- clou ← cclou · cllou · cluo · colu · lcou
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cl" and "clou" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cl" or "clou"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cl" and "clou".
- Full dictionary entry for "cl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,208,276 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cl" and "clou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clock vs clou". 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 #1,208,276 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.