Which to use
“caño” and “clavo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,544
- “caño” frequency rank
- #9,776
- “clavo” frequency rank
- 22320
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caño | clavo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tubo de metal, vidrio o barro, a modo de cañuto. | Pequeña barra de metal delgada y puntiaguda, que se inserta en tablas, paredes y tabiques con un martillo, con el propósito de sujetar o pegar. |
Where the eye mixes caño and clavo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: caño vs clavo
A purely visual mix-up. caño ([ˈkaɲo]) and clavo ([ˈklaβ̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caño is recorded at frequency rank #12,544, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɲo]. clavo is at rank #9,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞o].
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 22320, this pair ranks #250,878 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of caño vs clavo
Shared letters: aco. Private to "caño": ñ. Private to "clavo": lv.
"caño" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "clavo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- clavo ← cclavo · clabo · claov · clavvo · cllavo · clvao · lcavo
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "caño" and "clavo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "caño" or "clavo"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "caño" and "clavo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "caño" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clavo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #250,878 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caño" and "clavo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caño vs Charo". 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 #250,878 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.