Which to use
“clave” and “clavos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,401
- “clave” frequency rank
- #16,289
- “clavos” frequency rank
- 17690
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clave | clavos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Explicación de los signos convenidos para escribir en cifra, o de cualesquiera otros distintos de los conocidos o usuales. | Forma del plural de clavo. |
Where the eye mixes clave and clavos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clave and clavos
A purely visual mix-up. clave ([ˈklaβ̞e]) and clavos ([ˈklaβ̞os]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17690, 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]. clavos is at rank #16,289, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞os].
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 17690, this pair ranks #271,106 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clave vs clavos
Shared letters: aclv. Private to "clave": e. Private to "clavos": os.
"clave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "clavos" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clave" and "clavos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "clave" or "clavos"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "clave" and "clavos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clavos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #271,106 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clave" and "clavos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chamos vs clavos". 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 #271,106 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.