Which to use
“clair” is an adjective and “clamer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,086
- “clair” frequency rank
- #34,027
- “clamer” frequency rank
- 35113
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clair | clamer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a l’éclat du jour, de la lumière. | Manifester son opinion par des termes et un ton forts et vigoureux, voire violents, éventuellement par des cris. |
Where the eye mixes clair and clamer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clair and clamer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clair is \klɛʁ\ while clamer is \kla.me\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clair is recorded at frequency rank #1,086, classified as anadj, pronounced \klɛʁ\. clamer is at rank #34,027, tagged as averb, pronounced \kla.me\.
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 35113, this pair ranks #279,068 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clair vs clamer
Shared letters: aclr. Private to "clair": i. Private to "clamer": em.
"clair" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "clamer" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clair" for "clamer" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "clair" or "clamer" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "clair" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clamer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #279,068 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clair" and "clamer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clamer vs clavel". 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 #279,068 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.