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Cual es la diferencia entre "claro" y "claro que sí"?

Are they like "yeah" and "yes, indeed!" or "sure" and "you bet!"? - IOW, is the longer one more emphatic, or are they simply synonymous?

Is any difference between them based more on how they are said (inflection/emphasis) than the words themselves?

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    it is more emphatic. "Claro" can be used in more contexts, "Claro que si" is an strong assertion of something
    – rpax
    Jun 19, 2015 at 11:35

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Claro has the same meaning as Por supuesto.

Claro can mean either Claro que sí or Claro que no, so the is no difference between claro and claro que sí, expect that one is shorthand for the other. None is more emphatic than the other, because with Claro you are assuming that the listener know through the context if you mean "que sí" or "que no".

Claro, as a question (Claro?) could be shorthand for Te queda claro?

Claro as an exclamation can mean "Now I understand (Ahora está claro --> fácil de entender)"

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    According to translate.com, "Te queda claro?" means "You clear?" and, according to google.translate, "we clear?" So I reckon it means something like, "got that?" or "do you understand?"?
    – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven
    Jun 18, 2015 at 18:47
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    @Zenadix, A: "No podemos fiarnos de Paco. Ya sabes que es un mentiroso." , B:"Claro! Nos ha estado engañado desde el principio". Ese "claro" tiene las connotaciones de "claro que no" + "estoy de acuerdo"
    – Diego
    Jun 18, 2015 at 20:32
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    @Diego Good point. It really depends on context.
    – Zenadix
    Jun 18, 2015 at 21:01
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    @Zenadix You should not have deleted your original comment. Now we don't know what was Diego talking about. It is fine if you correct yourself in a further comment.
    – Gorpik
    Jun 19, 2015 at 12:20
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When someone says claro, it may not be clear weather is claro que si or claro que no. For example:
- ¿Crees que debo comprar estos zapatos?
+ Claro! (Implied)

Very different from:
+ Claro que no, no son tu talla.
or
+ Claro que si, son perfectos para ti! (Clear Statements)

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    Can you give us an example where claro would be ambiguous? I cannot think of one, and the one you write in your answer is unambiguous.
    – Gorpik
    Jun 19, 2015 at 12:22
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    @Jose, what about "Entonces crees que no debo debo comprar los zapatos"? "(Pues) claro, porque no son de tu talla". Is not clear there from the context what you mean with just "claro"?
    – Diego
    Jun 19, 2015 at 13:03
  • @Gorpik: Imagine that your girl is asking if you love her (Cariño, tu me amas?...) If you say "Claro", maybe she'll think that "clearly" you love her, but you just answer that "It's clear", you haven't anwer her question. Different from "Claro que si = It's clear that I do love you!" or "Claro que no = It's clear that I don't love you!".
    – Jose Barakat
    Sep 11, 2015 at 0:12
  • @Diego. We (Latino and Hispanic people) talk too much, unfortunetly that's the downside of our culture. I think that the less you talk, the better you comunicate. In Spanish, "claro" has the same meaning as transparent (as the water). When you understand something clearly (the teachings wasn't impure or obscure), you say "I understand crystal clear" o "Claro como un cristal". An answer like: "Claro, porque no son de tu talla" is a common mistake. Youŕe saying: YES, because they're not your size (????) different from: Don't buy them, they're clearly not your size =)
    – Jose Barakat
    Sep 11, 2015 at 0:29
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    Ambiguous: "¿Crees que debo comprar estos zapatos? ¿Sí o no?" If you just say "Claro" it's not "más claro que el agua" at all. It's like saying "Is the dog wet or tired?" answered with "Yes," meaning that the dog is wet or is tired.
    – Chowzen
    Aug 24, 2016 at 8:34

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