cleverevscleverenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,809
“clevere” frequency rank
#48,044
“cleveren” frequency rank
74853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clevere cleveren
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs clever Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs clever

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set clevere and cleveren apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
clevere
8 ch
cleveren

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. clevere ([ˈklɛvəʁə]) and cleveren ([ˈklɛvəʁən]) 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) - “clevere” sits inside “cleveren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clevere is recorded at frequency rank #26,809, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈklɛvəʁə]. cleveren is at rank #48,044, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklɛvəʁən].

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 74853, this pair ranks #322,769 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of clevere vs cleveren

Shared letters: celrv. Private to "clevere": -. Private to "cleveren": n.

"clevere" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "cleveren" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cleverecclevere · celvere · cleevre · cleveer · cleverre · clevree · clevvere · cllevere
  • cleverenccleveren · celveren · cleevren · cleveern · cleverenn · cleverne · cleverren · clevreen

Frequency comparison

clevere#26,809
cleveren#48,044

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clevere" and "cleveren" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklɛvəʁə] versus [ˈklɛvəʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "clevere" or "cleveren"?
"clevere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,809 in our German list, against #48,044 for "cleveren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering clevere vs cleveren

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 “clevere” 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