clanesvsclasesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,935
“clanes” frequency rank
#887
“clases” frequency rank
22822
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clanes clases
Definition Forma del plural de clan. Forma del plural de clase.

Where the eye mixes clanes and clases

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. clanes and clases follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
clanes
6 ch
clases

Why the eye confuses clanes with clases

A purely visual mix-up. clanes ([ˈklanes]) and clases ([ˈklases]) 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 a single letter - n in “clanes” becomes s in “clases”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clanes is recorded at frequency rank #21,935, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklanes]. clases is at rank #887, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklases].

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 22822, this pair ranks #248,586 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of clanes vs clases

Shared letters: acels. Private to "clanes": n. Private to "clases": -.

"clanes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "clases" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clanes ← calnes · cclanes · claens · claness · clannes · clanse · cllanes · clnaes
  • clases ← calses · cclases · claces · claess · clasess · classes · cllases · clsaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "clanes" for "clases" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklanes] versus [ˈklases]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "clanes" vs "clases" - which ranks higher?
"clases" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #887 in our Spanish list, against #21,935 for "clanes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "clanes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clases" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #248,586 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clanes" and "clases" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "canis vs clanes". 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 #248,586 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