clavanvsclavarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,417
“clavan” frequency rank
#22,608
“clavar” frequency rank
58025
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clavan clavar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de clavar o de clavarse. Introducir un objeto puntiagudo en un cuerpo, mediante presión o golpes.

Where the eye mixes clavan and clavar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
clavan
6 ch
clavar

Visual trap between clavan and clavar

A purely visual mix-up. clavan ([ˈklaβ̞ãn]) and clavar ([klaˈβ̞aɾ]) 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 “clavan” becomes r in “clavar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58025, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clavan is recorded at frequency rank #35,417, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞ãn]. clavar is at rank #22,608, tagged as averb, pronounced [klaˈβ̞aɾ].

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 58025, this pair ranks #68,075 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of clavan vs clavar

Shared letters: aclv. Private to "clavan": n. Private to "clavar": r.

"clavan" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "clavar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clavancalvan · cclavan · claavn · claban · clavann · clavna · clavvan · cllavan
  • clavarcalvar · cclavar · claavr · clabar · clavarr · clavra · clavvar · cllavar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clavan" and "clavar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklaβ̞ãn] versus [klaˈβ̞aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "clavan" or "clavar"?
"clavar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,608 in our Spanish list, against #35,417 for "clavan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "clavan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clavar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,075 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clavan" and "clavar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clavan vs clavaron". 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 #68,075 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