Which to use
“Klaue” is a noun and “klauen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,224
- “Klaue” frequency rank
- #7,076
- “klauen” frequency rank
- 45300
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Klaue | klauen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hornteil des Tierfußes, besonders Huf von Wiederkäuern, Kralle von Raubvögeln | etwas entwenden, stehlen |
Where the eye mixes Klaue and klauen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Klaue runs 5 letters (CCVVV) against klauen's 6 (CCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Klaue and klauen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Klaue is [ˈklaʊ̯ə] while klauen is [ˈklaʊ̯ən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Klaue” sits inside “klauen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Klaue is recorded at frequency rank #38,224, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaʊ̯ə]. 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 45300, this pair ranks #1,357,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Klaue vs klauen
Shared letters: aeklu. Private to "Klaue": -. Private to "klauen": n.
"Klaue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV · "klauen" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Klaue" and "klauen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Klaue" or "klauen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Klaue" and "klauen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Klaue" 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 #1,357,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Klaue" and "klauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Klaue vs Knaus". 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 #1,357,719 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.