capovsclavoConfusable pair

Which to use

“capo” and “clavo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,730
“capo” frequency rank
#9,776
“clavo” frequency rank
21506
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capo clavo
Definition Jefe de una banda mafiosa. 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 capo and clavo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
capo
5 ch
clavo

Look-alike desk: capo vs clavo

A purely visual mix-up. capo ([ˈkapo]) 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 21506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capo is recorded at frequency rank #11,730, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkapo]. 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 21506, this pair ranks #254,620 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of capo vs clavo

Shared letters: aco. Private to "capo": p. Private to "clavo": lv.

"capo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "clavo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capoacpo · caop · cappo · ccapo · cpao
  • clavocclavo · clabo · claov · clavvo · cllavo · clvao · lcavo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "capo" and "clavo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkapo] versus [ˈklaβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "capo" vs "clavo" - which ranks higher?
"clavo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,776 in our Spanish list, against #11,730 for "capo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "capo" 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 #254,620 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "capo" and "clavo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "capo 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 #254,620 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list