KlauevsklebeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#38,224
“Klaue” frequency rank
#41,281
“klebe” frequency rank
79505
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Klaue klebe
Definition Hornteil des Tierfußes, besonders Huf von Wiederkäuern, Kralle von Raubvögeln 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kleben

Where the eye mixes Klaue and klebe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Klaue (CCVVV) and klebe (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Klaue
5 ch
klebe

Visual trap between Klaue and klebe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Klaue is [ˈklaʊ̯ə] while klebe is [ˈkleːbə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79505, 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]. klebe is at rank #41,281, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkleːbə].

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 79505, this pair ranks #215,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Klaue vs klebe

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "Klaue": au. Private to "klebe": b.

"Klaue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV  ·  "klebe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Klaue ← kalue · kklaue · klaeu · kllaue · kluae · lkaue
  • klebe ← kelbe · kklebe · klbee · klebbe · kleeb · kllebe · lkebe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Klaue" and "klebe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Klaue" is a noun and "klebe" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Klaue" or "klebe"?
"Klaue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,224 in our German list, against #41,281 for "klebe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Klaue" and "klebe" 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 "klebe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #215,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Klaue" and "klebe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "klebe vs Krebse". 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 #215,073 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