ClansvsclashWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,887
“Clans” frequency rank
#34,577
“clash” frequency rank
47464
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Clans clash
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Clan Geräusch, wie von einem Zusammenstoß; lautes, schrilles, klirrendes Geräusch

Where the eye mixes Clans and clash

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Clans
5 ch
clash

Look-alike desk: Clans vs clash

A purely visual mix-up. Clans ([klaːns]) and clash ([klæʃ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47464, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Clans is recorded at frequency rank #12,887, classified as anoun, pronounced [klaːns]. clash is at rank #34,577, tagged as anoun, pronounced [klæʃ].

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 47464, this pair ranks #1,283,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Clans vs clash

Shared letters: acls. Private to "Clans": n. Private to "clash": h.

"Clans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "clash" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Clanscalns · cclans · clanns · clanss · clasn · cllans · clnas · lcans
  • clashcalsh · cclash · clahs · clashh · classh · cllash · clsah · lcash

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Clans" for "clash" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([klaːns] versus [klæʃ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Clans" or "clash"?
"Clans" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,887 in our German list, against #34,577 for "clash". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Clans" and "clash" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Clans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clash" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,283,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Clans" and "clash" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clair vs clash". 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 #1,283,318 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