claimvsclaimsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“claim” and “claims” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,028
“claim” frequency rank
#45,201
“claims” frequency rank
83229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature claim claims
Definition verlangen, fordern, einfordern, reklamieren 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs claim

Letter map: claim vs claims

Shared letters muted; letters that set claim and claims apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. claim runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against claims's 6 (CCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
claim
6 ch
claims

Spelling & dictionary notes on claim vs claims

claim and claims are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “claim” sits inside “claims”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

claim is recorded at frequency rank #38,028, classified as averb, pronounced [kleɪm]. claims is at rank #45,201, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 83229, this pair ranks #143,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of claim vs claims

Shared letters: acilm. Private to "claim": -. Private to "claims": s.

"claim" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "claims" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • claim ← calim · cclaim · claimm · clami · cliam · cllaim · lcaim
  • claims ← calims · cclaims · claimms · claimss · claism · clamis · cliams · cllaims

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "claim" for "claims" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “claim” sits inside “claims”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "claim" vs "claims" - which ranks higher?
"claim" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,028 in our German list, against #45,201 for "claims". 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 "claim" and "claims".

  • Full dictionary entry for "claim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "claims" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #143,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "claim" and "claims" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "claims 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 #143,425 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