Which to use
“clans” and “clause” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,127
- “clans” frequency rank
- #7,164
- “clause” frequency rank
- 19291
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clans | clause |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de clan. | Disposition particulière faisant partie d’un traité, d’un contrat, d’un arrêté, d’une loi ou de tout autre acte public ou particulier, etc. |
Where the eye mixes clans and clause
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses clans with clause
A purely visual mix-up. clans (\klɑ̃\) and clause (\kloz\) 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 19291, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clans is recorded at frequency rank #12,127, classified as anoun, pronounced \klɑ̃\. clause is at rank #7,164, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kloz\.
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 19291, this pair ranks #373,979 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clans vs clause
Shared letters: acls. Private to "clans": n. Private to "clause": eu.
"clans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "clause" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clans" for "clause" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clans" vs "clause" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "clans" and "clause" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clause" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #373,979 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clans" and "clause" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCAS vs clans". 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 #373,979 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.