cranevscreanWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: crane is a noun, crean is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“crane” is a noun and “crean” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,140
“crane” frequency rank
#4,067
“crean” frequency rank
43207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature crane crean
Definition Grulla. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de creer o de creerse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set crane and crean apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
crane
5 ch
crean

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: crane is /kɹeɪn/ while crean is [ˈkɾeãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

crane is recorded at frequency rank #39,140, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹeɪn/. crean is at rank #4,067, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkɾeãn].

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 43207, this pair ranks #143,970 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of crane vs crean

Shared letters: acenr. Private to "crane": -. Private to "crean": -.

"crane" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "crean" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • craneccrane · cranne · crnae · crrane · rcane
  • creanccrean · ceran · craen · creann · crena · crrean · rcean

Frequency comparison

crane#39,140
crean#4,067

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "crane" and "crean" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "crane" is a noun and "crean" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "crane" or "crean"?
"crean" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,067 in our Spanish list, against #39,140 for "crane". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering crane vs crean

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “crane”; for a verb, it's “crean”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “crane” 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