KlauevsKräheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Klaue” and “Krähe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,224
“Klaue” frequency rank
#36,466
“Krähe” frequency rank
74690
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Klaue Krähe
Definition Hornteil des Tierfußes, besonders Huf von Wiederkäuern, Kralle von Raubvögeln ein Rabenvogel mit starkem Schnabel (mittelgroße Arten der Gattung Corvus)

Where the eye mixes Klaue and Krähe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Klaue (CCVVV) and Krähe (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Klaue
5 ch
Krähe

Why the eye confuses Klaue with Krähe

A purely visual mix-up. Klaue ([ˈklaʊ̯ə]) and Krähe ([ˈkʁɛːə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74690, 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]. Krähe is at rank #36,466, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁɛːə].

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 74690, this pair ranks #326,872 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Klaue vs Krähe

Shared letters: ek. Private to "Klaue": alu. Private to "Krähe": hrä.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Klaue ← kalue · kklaue · klaeu · kllaue · kluae · lkaue

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Klaue" and "Krähe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklaʊ̯ə] versus [ˈkʁɛːə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Klaue" vs "Krähe" - which ranks higher?
"Krähe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,466 in our German list, against #38,224 for "Klaue". 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 "Krähe" 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 "Krähe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #326,872 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Klaue" and "Krähe" 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 #326,872 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