Which to use
“câlins” is an adjective and “clans” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,917
- “câlins” frequency rank
- #12,127
- “clans” frequency rank
- 30044
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | câlins | clans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de câlin. | Pluriel de clan. |
Where the eye mixes câlins and clans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. câlins runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against clans's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses câlins with clans
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: câlins is \kɑ.lɛ̃\ while clans is \klɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30044, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
câlins is recorded at frequency rank #17,917, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɑ.lɛ̃\. clans is at rank #12,127, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klɑ̃\.
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 30044, this pair ranks #312,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of câlins vs clans
Shared letters: clns. Private to "câlins": iâ. Private to "clans": a.
"câlins" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "clans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clans ← calns · cclans · clanns · clanss · clasn · cllans · clnas · lcans
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "câlins" and "clans" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "câlins" or "clans"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "câlins" and "clans" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "câlins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #312,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "câlins" and "clans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "câlins vs carina". 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 #312,832 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.