Which to use
“Klan” is a noun and “klau” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,640
- “Klan” frequency rank
- #38,851
- “klau” frequency rank
- 69491
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Klan | klau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Gruppe der schottischen Clangesellschaft | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs klauen |
Where the eye mixes Klan and klau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Klan vs klau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Klan is [klaːn] while klau is [klaʊ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “Klan” becomes u in “klau”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69491, 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]. klau is at rank #38,851, tagged as averb, pronounced [klaʊ̯].
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 69491, this pair ranks #474,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Klan vs klau
Shared letters: akl. Private to "Klan": n. Private to "klau": u.
"Klan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "klau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Klan" and "klau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Klan" or "klau"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Klan" and "klau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Klan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "klau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #474,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Klan" and "klau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "klau vs kola". 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 #474,974 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.