Français homophones

clair/claire/claires/clairs/clerc/clercs

"clair" is an adjective; "claire" is a noun - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #20 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "clair" arrives as an adjective, while "claire" is a noun. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

Shared stem "clair" then splits - "clair" (5 letters) vs "claire" (6).
Shared stem "clair" then splits - "clair" (5 letters) vs "claires" (7).
Shared stem "clair" then splits - "clair" (5 letters) vs "clairs" (6).
Shared stem "cl" then splits - "clair" (5 letters) vs "clerc" (5).
Shared stem "cl" then splits - "clair" (5 letters) vs "clercs" (6).
Shared stem "claire" then splits - "claire" (6 letters) vs "claires" (7).
Single-letter fork: "claire" keeps e, "clairs" writes s at letter 6.
Shared stem "cl" then splits - "claire" (6 letters) vs "clerc" (5).
Shared stem "cl" then splits - "claire" (6 letters) vs "clercs" (6).
Shared stem "clair" then splits - "claires" (7 letters) vs "clairs" (6).
Shared stem "cl" then splits - "claires" (7 letters) vs "clerc" (5).
Shared stem "cl" then splits - "claires" (7 letters) vs "clercs" (6).
Shared stem "cl" then splits - "clairs" (6 letters) vs "clerc" (5).
Shared stem "cl" then splits - "clairs" (6 letters) vs "clercs" (6).
Shared stem "clerc" then splits - "clerc" (5 letters) vs "clercs" (6).

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across clair, claire, claires, clairs, clerc, clercs: clr. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

clair
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCVVC
Inventory acilr · private ai
claire
6 letters · 3 vowels · shape CCVVCV
Inventory aceilr · private aei
claires
7 letters · 3 vowels · shape CCVVCVC
Inventory aceilrs · private aeis
clairs
6 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCVVCC
Inventory acilrs · private ais
clerc
5 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCVCC
Inventory celr · private e
clercs
6 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCVCCC
Inventory celrs · private es

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "clair" when you mean: Qui a l’éclat du jour, de la lumière.
Write "claire" when you mean: Les cendres lavées ou les os calcinés dont on se sert pour faire les coupelles dans l’affinage.
Write "claires" when you mean: Féminin pluriel de clair.
Write "clairs" when you mean: Masculin pluriel de clair.
Write "clerc" when you mean: Personne qui est entrée dans l’état ecclésiastique en recevant la tonsure.
Write "clercs" when you mean: Pluriel de clerc.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

clair ← calir · cclair · clairr · clari · cliar · cllair
claire ← calire · cclaire · claier · clairre · clarie · cliare
claires ← calires · cclaires · claiers · clairess · clairres · clairse
clairs ← calirs · cclairs · clairrs · clairss · claisr · claris
clerc ← cclerc · celrc · clecr · clercc · clerrc · cllerc
clercs ← cclercs · celrcs · clecrs · clerccs · clercss · clerrcs

Each spelling

clair

adjective · /\klɛʁ\/ · #1,086 frequency

Qui a l’éclat du jour, de la lumière.

claire

noun · /\klɛʁ\/ · #1,986 frequency

Les cendres lavées ou les os calcinés dont on se sert pour faire les coupelles dans l’affinage.

claires

adjective · /\klɛʁ\/ · #7,288 frequency

Féminin pluriel de clair.

clairs

adjective · /\klɛʁ\/ · #8,820 frequency

Masculin pluriel de clair.

clerc

noun · /\klɛʁ\/ · #16,093 frequency

Personne qui est entrée dans l’état ecclésiastique en recevant la tonsure.

clercs

noun · /\klɛʁ\/ · #24,151 frequency

Pluriel de clerc.