clavovscloroWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,776
“clavo” frequency rank
#15,563
“cloro” frequency rank
25339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clavo cloro
Definition Pequeña barra de metal delgada y puntiaguda, que se inserta en tablas, paredes y tabiques con un martillo, con el propósito de sujetar o pegar. Elemento químico de número atómico 17 situado en el grupo de los halógenos (grupo VII A) de la tabla periódica de los elementos. Su símbolo es Cl. En condiciones normales y en estado puro es un gas amarillo-verdoso.

Where the eye mixes clavo and cloro

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
clavo
5 ch
cloro

Visual trap between clavo and cloro

A purely visual mix-up. clavo ([ˈklaβ̞o]) and cloro ([ˈkloɾo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clavo is recorded at frequency rank #9,776, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞o]. cloro is at rank #15,563, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkloɾo].

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 25339, this pair ranks #236,890 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of clavo vs cloro

Shared letters: clo. Private to "clavo": av. Private to "cloro": r.

"clavo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "cloro" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clavocclavo · clabo · claov · clavvo · cllavo · clvao · lcavo
  • cloroccloro · clloro · clorro · clroo · lcoro

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clavo" and "cloro" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklaβ̞o] versus [ˈkloɾo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "clavo" or "cloro" show up more?
"clavo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,776 in our Spanish list, against #15,563 for "cloro". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "clavo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cloro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #236,890 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clavo" and "cloro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Charo vs cloro". 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 #236,890 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