klärenvsklaresConfusable pair

Quick tell: klären is a verb, klares is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“klären” is a verb and “klares” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,900
“klären” frequency rank
#8,736
“klares” frequency rank
12636
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature klären klares
Definition mitteilen, wie sich etwas in Wahrheit verhält Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs klar

Where the eye mixes klären and klares

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
klären
6 ch
klares

Visual trap between klären and klares

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: klären is [ˈklɛːʁən] while klares is [ˈklaːʁəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

klären is recorded at frequency rank #3,900, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈklɛːʁən]. klares is at rank #8,736, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaːʁəs].

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 12636, this pair ranks #1,962,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of klären vs klares

Shared letters: eklr. Private to "klären": . Private to "klares": as.

"klären" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "klares" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • klareskalres · kklares · klaers · klaress · klarres · klarse · kllares · klraes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "klären" for "klares" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "klären" is a verb and "klares" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "klären" or "klares" show up more?
"klären" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,900 in our German list, against #8,736 for "klares". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "klären" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "klares" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,962,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "klären" and "klares" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "klares vs klärte". 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 #1,962,972 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