clarovsclashWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: claro is a adjective, clash is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“claro” is an adjective and “clash” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#385
“claro” frequency rank
#20,819
“clash” frequency rank
21204
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature claro clash
Definition que clareia, ilumina estrondo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set claro and clash apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
claro
5 ch
clash

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: claro is /ˈkla.ɾu/ while clash is /klæʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21204, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

claro is recorded at frequency rank #385, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkla.ɾu/. clash is at rank #20,819, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klæʃ/.

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 21204, this pair ranks #49,130 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of claro vs clash

Shared letters: acl. Private to "claro": or. Private to "clash": hs.

"claro" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "clash" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clarocalro · cclaro · claor · clarro · cllaro · clrao · lcaro
  • clashcalsh · cclash · clahs · clashh · classh · cllash · clsah · lcash

Frequency comparison

claro#385
clash#20,819

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "claro" and "clash" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "claro" is an adjective and "clash" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "claro" or "clash"?
"claro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #385 in our Portuguese list, against #20,819 for "clash". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering claro vs clash

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “claro”; for a noun, it's “clash”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “claro” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list