clavavsclavadaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,423
“clava” frequency rank
#28,684
“clavada” frequency rank
53107
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clava clavada
Definition Palo toscamente labrado, como de un metro de largo, que va aumentando de diámetro desde la empuñadura hasta el extremo opuesto. Acción o efecto de clavar.

Where the eye mixes clava and clavada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. clava runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against clavada's 7 (CCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
clava
7 ch
clavada

Why the eye confuses clava with clavada

A purely visual mix-up. clava ([ˈklaβ̞a]) and clavada ([klaˈβ̞að̞a]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “clava” sits inside “clavada”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clava is recorded at frequency rank #24,423, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞a]. clavada is at rank #28,684, tagged as anoun, pronounced [klaˈβ̞að̞a].

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 53107, this pair ranks #89,469 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of clava vs clavada

Shared letters: aclv. Private to "clava": -. Private to "clavada": d.

"clava" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "clavada" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clava ← cclava · claav · claba · clavva · cllava · clvaa · lcava
  • clavada ← calvada · cclavada · claavda · clabada · clavaad · clavadda · clavdaa · clavvada

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "clava" and "clavada" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklaβ̞a] versus [klaˈβ̞að̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "clava" vs "clavada" - which ranks higher?
"clava" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,423 in our Spanish list, against #28,684 for "clavada". 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 "clava" and "clavada" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "clava" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clavada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #89,469 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clava" and "clavada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clavada vs cuajada". 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 #89,469 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