klagtevsKlaueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: klagte is a verb, Klaue is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“klagte” is a verb and “Klaue” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,599
“klagte” frequency rank
#38,224
“Klaue” frequency rank
56823
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature klagte Klaue
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs klagen Hornteil des Tierfußes, besonders Huf von Wiederkäuern, Kralle von Raubvögeln

Where the eye mixes klagte and Klaue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. klagte runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against Klaue's 5 (CCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
klagte
5 ch
Klaue

Look-alike desk: klagte vs Klaue

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: klagte is [ˈklaːktə] while Klaue is [ˈklaʊ̯ə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56823, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

klagte is recorded at frequency rank #18,599, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈklaːktə]. Klaue is at rank #38,224, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaʊ̯ə].

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 56823, this pair ranks #925,242 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of klagte vs Klaue

Shared letters: aekl. Private to "klagte": gt. Private to "Klaue": u.

"klagte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Klaue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • klagte ← kalgte · kklagte · klaget · klaggte · klagtte · klatge · klgate · kllagte
  • Klaue ← kalue · kklaue · klaeu · kllaue · kluae · lkaue

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "klagte" and "Klaue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "klagte" is a verb and "Klaue" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "klagte" or "Klaue" show up more?
"klagte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,599 in our German list, against #38,224 for "Klaue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "klagte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Klaue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #925,242 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "klagte" and "Klaue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Klaue vs Knaus". 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 #925,242 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