clarkvsclercConfusable pair

Which to use

“clark” and “clerc” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,943
“clark” frequency rank
#16,093
“clerc” frequency rank
24036
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clark clerc
Definition Chariot élévateur motorisé. Personne qui est entrée dans l’état ecclésiastique en recevant la tonsure.

Where the eye mixes clark and clerc

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

5 ch
clark
5 ch
clerc

Visual trap between clark and clerc

A purely visual mix-up. clark (\klaʁk\) and clerc (\klɛʁ\) 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 24036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clark is recorded at frequency rank #7,943, classified as anoun, pronounced \klaʁk\. clerc is at rank #16,093, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klɛʁ\.

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 24036, this pair ranks #349,015 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of clark vs clerc

Shared letters: clr. Private to "clark": ak. Private to "clerc": e.

"clark" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "clerc" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clarkcalrk · cclark · clakr · clarkk · clarrk · cllark · clrak · lcark
  • clerccclerc · celrc · clecr · clercc · clerrc · cllerc · clrec · lcerc

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "clark" and "clerc" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\klaʁk\ versus \klɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "clark" or "clerc"?
"clark" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,943 in our French list, against #16,093 for "clerc". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "clark" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clerc" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #349,015 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clark" and "clerc" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cec vs clerc". 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 #349,015 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list