KlanvskläreConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#30,640
“Klan” frequency rank
#44,735
“kläre” frequency rank
75375
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Klan kläre
Definition eine Gruppe der schottischen Clangesellschaft 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs klären

Where the eye mixes Klan and kläre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Klan runs 4 letters (CCVC) against kläre's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Klan
5 ch
kläre

Visual trap between Klan and kläre

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Klan is [klaːn] while kläre is [ˈklɛːʁə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Klan is recorded at frequency rank #30,640, classified as anoun, pronounced [klaːn]. kläre is at rank #44,735, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈklɛːʁə].

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 75375, this pair ranks #309,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Klan vs kläre

Shared letters: kl. Private to "Klan": an. Private to "kläre": erä.

"Klan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "kläre" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Klan" and "kläre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Klan" is a noun and "kläre" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Klan" or "kläre"?
"Klan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,640 in our German list, against #44,735 for "kläre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Klan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kläre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #309,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Klan" and "kläre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "karge vs kläre". 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 #309,528 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