Which to use
“claus” is a verb and “clou” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,220
- “claus” frequency rank
- #12,128
- “clou” frequency rank
- 51348
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | claus | clou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe claure. | Tige rigide, de fer ou d’autre métal, courte, pointue, et à la tête aplatie ou protubérante, qui sert de cheville pour fixer ou à pendre quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes claus and clou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between claus and clou
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: claus is [ˈklaws] while clou is \klu\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
claus is recorded at frequency rank #39,220, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈklaws]. clou is at rank #12,128, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klu\.
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 51348, this pair ranks #155,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of claus vs clou
Shared letters: clu. Private to "claus": as. Private to "clou": o.
"claus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "clou" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "claus" and "clou" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "claus" or "clou" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "claus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #155,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "claus" and "clou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "casus vs claus". 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 #155,714 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.