kacvsKlanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,278
“kac” frequency rank
#30,640
“Klan” frequency rank
73918
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kac Klan
Definition körperliches Unwoholsein nach übermäßigem Alkoholkonsum; Kater, Katzenjammer, Katerstimmung, Hangover, Hang-over eine Gruppe der schottischen Clangesellschaft

Where the eye mixes kac and Klan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. kac runs 3 letters (CVC) against Klan's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
kac
4 ch
Klan

Look-alike desk: kac vs Klan

A purely visual mix-up. kac ([kat͡s]) and Klan ([klaːn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kac is recorded at frequency rank #43,278, classified as anoun, pronounced [kat͡s]. Klan is at rank #30,640, tagged as anoun, pronounced [klaːn].

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 73918, this pair ranks #347,450 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kac vs Klan

Shared letters: ak. Private to "kac": c. Private to "Klan": ln.

"kac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Klan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Klan ← kaln · kklan · klann · kllan · klna · lkan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kac" and "Klan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kat͡s] versus [klaːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kac" or "Klan"?
"Klan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,640 in our German list, against #43,278 for "kac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Klan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #347,450 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kac" and "Klan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kac vs KGaA". 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 #347,450 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