Which to use
“clave” and “claves” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,401
- “clave” frequency rank
- #5,474
- “claves” frequency rank
- 6875
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clave | claves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Explicación de los signos convenidos para escribir en cifra, o de cualesquiera otros distintos de los conocidos o usuales. | Forma del plural de clave. |
Where the eye mixes clave and claves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: clave vs claves
A purely visual mix-up. clave ([ˈklaβ̞e]) and claves ([ˈklaβ̞es]) 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 extra letter(s) - “clave” sits inside “claves”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clave is recorded at frequency rank #1,401, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞e]. claves is at rank #5,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞es].
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 6875, this pair ranks #309,569 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clave vs claves
Shared letters: acelv. Private to "clave": -. Private to "claves": s.
"clave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "claves" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clave" and "claves" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "clave" or "claves"?
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 "clave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "claves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #309,569 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clave" and "claves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "canes vs claves". 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 #309,569 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.