Which to use
“klau” is a verb and “Knaus” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,851
- “klau” frequency rank
- #46,778
- “Knaus” frequency rank
- 85629
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | klau | Knaus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs klauen | deutschsprachiger Nachname, Familienname |
Where the eye mixes klau and Knaus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between klau and Knaus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: klau is [klaʊ̯] while Knaus is [ˈknaʊ̯s]. 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 (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85629, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
klau is recorded at frequency rank #38,851, classified as averb, pronounced [klaʊ̯]. Knaus is at rank #46,778, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈknaʊ̯s].
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 85629, this pair ranks #105,451 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of klau vs Knaus
Shared letters: aku. Private to "klau": l. Private to "Knaus": ns.
"klau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "Knaus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "klau" for "Knaus" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "klau" or "Knaus" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "klau" and "Knaus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "klau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Knaus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #105,451 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "klau" and "Knaus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Knaus vs Knies". 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 #105,451 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.