klauenvsklonenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,076
“klauen” frequency rank
#40,034
“klonen” frequency rank
47110
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature klauen klonen
Definition etwas entwenden, stehlen ungeschlechtlich fortpflanzen, zum Beispiel indem man Stecklinge oder Senker setzt

Where the eye mixes klauen and klonen

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

6 ch
klauen
6 ch
klonen

Why the eye confuses klauen with klonen

A purely visual mix-up. klauen ([ˈklaʊ̯ən]) and klonen ([ˈkloːnən]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

klauen is recorded at frequency rank #7,076, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈklaʊ̯ən]. klonen is at rank #40,034, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkloːnən].

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 47110, this pair ranks #1,295,828 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of klauen vs klonen

Shared letters: ekln. Private to "klauen": au. Private to "klonen": o.

"klauen" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC  ·  "klonen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • klauenkaluen · kklauen · klaeun · klauenn · klaune · kllauen · kluaen · lkauen
  • klonenkklonen · kllonen · klnoen · kloenn · klonenn · klonne · klonnen · kolnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "klauen" and "klonen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklaʊ̯ən] versus [ˈkloːnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "klauen" or "klonen"?
"klauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,076 in our German list, against #40,034 for "klonen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "klauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "klonen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,295,828 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "klauen" and "klonen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "klonen vs kloppen". 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 #1,295,828 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