KlängenvsklauenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#23,591
“Klängen” frequency rank
#7,076
“klauen” frequency rank
30667
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Klängen klauen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Klang etwas entwenden, stehlen

Where the eye mixes Klängen and klauen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Klängen runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against klauen's 6 (CCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Klängen
6 ch
klauen

Visual trap between Klängen and klauen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Klängen is [ˈklɛŋən] while klauen is [ˈklaʊ̯ən]. 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 30667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Klängen is recorded at frequency rank #23,591, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklɛŋən]. klauen is at rank #7,076, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈklaʊ̯ən].

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 30667, this pair ranks #1,743,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Klängen vs klauen

Shared letters: ekln. Private to "Klängen": gä. Private to "klauen": au.

"Klängen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "klauen" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • klauen ← kaluen · kklauen · klaeun · klauenn · klaune · kllauen · kluaen · lkauen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Klängen" and "klauen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Klängen" is a noun and "klauen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Klängen" or "klauen"?
"klauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,076 in our German list, against #23,591 for "Klängen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Klängen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "klauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,743,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Klängen" and "klauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "klagten vs Klängen". 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 #1,743,407 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