clevervsclevereWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,061
“clever” frequency rank
#26,809
“clevere” frequency rank
36870
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clever clevere
Definition schlau, gewitzt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs clever

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set clever and clevere apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
clever
7 ch
clevere

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. clever ([ˈklɛvɐ]) and clevere ([ˈklɛvəʁə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “clever” sits inside “clevere”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36870, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clever is recorded at frequency rank #10,061, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈklɛvɐ]. clevere is at rank #26,809, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklɛvəʁə].

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 36870, this pair ranks #1,604,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of clever vs clevere

Shared letters: celrv. Private to "clever": -. Private to "clevere": -.

"clever" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "clevere" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clevercclever · celver · cleevr · cleverr · clevre · clevver · cllever · clveer
  • cleverecclevere · celvere · cleevre · cleveer · cleverre · clevree · clevvere · cllevere

Frequency comparison

clever#10,061
clevere#26,809

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clever" and "clevere" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklɛvɐ] versus [ˈklɛvəʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "clever" or "clevere"?
"clever" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,061 in our German list, against #26,809 for "clevere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering clever vs clevere

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “clever” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list