klagenvsklaresWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: klagen is a verb, klares is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“klagen” is a verb and “klares” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,212
“klagen” frequency rank
#8,736
“klares” frequency rank
12948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature klagen klares
Definition einen Verlust bejammern Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs klar

Where the eye mixes klagen and klares

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. klagen and klares follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
klagen
6 ch
klares

Why the eye confuses klagen with klares

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: klagen is [ˈklaːɡn̩] while klares is [ˈklaːʁəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

klagen is recorded at frequency rank #4,212, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈklaːɡn̩]. klares is at rank #8,736, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaːʁəs].

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 12948, this pair ranks #1,961,054 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of klagen vs klares

Shared letters: aekl. Private to "klagen": gn. Private to "klares": rs.

"klagen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "klares" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • klagen ← kalgen · kklagen · klaegn · klagenn · klaggen · klagne · klgaen · kllagen
  • klares ← kalres · kklares · klaers · klaress · klarres · klarse · kllares · klraes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "klagen" and "klares" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "klagen" is a verb and "klares" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "klagen" vs "klares" - which ranks higher?
"klagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,212 in our German list, against #8,736 for "klares". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "klagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "klares" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,961,054 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "klagen" and "klares" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "klares vs klärte". 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 #1,961,054 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