KlappevskläreWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#7,633
“Klappe” frequency rank
#44,735
“kläre” frequency rank
52368
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Klappe kläre
Definition Vorrichtung, die an einer Seite befestigt ist, bewegt werden kann und eine Öffnung verschließt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs klären

Where the eye mixes Klappe and kläre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Klappe
5 ch
kläre

Why the eye confuses Klappe with kläre

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Klappe is [ˈklapə] 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 52368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Klappe is recorded at frequency rank #7,633, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklapə]. 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 52368, this pair ranks #1,099,600 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Klappe vs kläre

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "Klappe": ap. Private to "kläre": .

"Klappe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "kläre" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Klappekalppe · kklappe · klape · klapep · kllappe · klpape · lkappe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Klappe" for "kläre" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Klappe" is a noun and "kläre" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Klappe" vs "kläre" - which ranks higher?
"Klappe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,633 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.

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 "Klappe" 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 #1,099,600 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Klappe" 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 #1,099,600 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