castvsclashWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#24,771
“cast” frequency rank
#29,104
“clash” frequency rank
53875
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cast clash
Definition Arrojar, lanzar, tirar. Conflicto.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cast and clash apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cast
5 ch
clash

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cast is /kɑːst/ while clash is /klæʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cast is recorded at frequency rank #24,771, classified as averb, pronounced /kɑːst/. clash is at rank #29,104, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klæʃ/.

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 53875, this pair ranks #85,826 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cast vs clash

Shared letters: acs. Private to "cast": t. Private to "clash": hl.

"cast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "clash" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • castacst · casst · castt · ccast · csat
  • clashcalsh · cclash · clahs · clashh · classh · cllash · clsah · lcash

Frequency comparison

cast#24,771
clash#29,104

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cast" and "clash" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cast" is a verb and "clash" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cast" or "clash"?
"cast" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,771 in our Spanish list, against #29,104 for "clash". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cast vs clash

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “cast”; for a noun, it's “clash”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cast” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list