Français homophones

cru/crue/crues/crus/crut

"cru" is an adjective; "crue" is a noun - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #101 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "cru" arrives as an adjective, while "crue" is a noun. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

Shared stem "cru" then splits - "cru" (3 letters) vs "crue" (4).
Shared stem "cru" then splits - "cru" (3 letters) vs "crues" (5).
Shared stem "cru" then splits - "cru" (3 letters) vs "crus" (4).
Shared stem "cru" then splits - "cru" (3 letters) vs "crut" (4).
Shared stem "crue" then splits - "crue" (4 letters) vs "crues" (5).
Single-letter fork: "crue" keeps e, "crus" writes s at letter 4.
Single-letter fork: "crue" keeps e, "crut" writes t at letter 4.
Shared stem "cru" then splits - "crues" (5 letters) vs "crus" (4).
Shared stem "cru" then splits - "crues" (5 letters) vs "crut" (4).
Single-letter fork: "crus" keeps s, "crut" writes t at letter 4.

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across cru, crue, crues, crus, crut: cru. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

cru
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCV
Inventory cru · no private letters vs siblings
crue
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCVV
Inventory ceru · private e
crues
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCVVC
Inventory cersu · private es
crus
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCVC
Inventory crsu · private s
crut
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCVC
Inventory crtu · private t

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "cru" when you mean: Qui n’est pas cuit.
Write "crue" when you mean: Augmentation temporaire et généralement rapide du débit ou du niveau d’un cours d’eau, liée aux précipitations, à la fonte des neiges ou …
Write "crues" when you mean: Féminin pluriel de cru.
Write "crus" when you mean: Masculin pluriel de cru.
Write "crut" when you mean: Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de croire.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

crue ← ccrue · creu · crrue · rcue
crues ← ccrues · creus · crrues · cruess · cruse · rcues
crus ← ccrus · crrus · crsu · cruss · curs · rcus
crut ← ccrut · crrut · crtu · crutt · curt · rcut

Each spelling

cru

adjective · /\kʁy\/ · #1,326 frequency

Qui n’est pas cuit.

crue

noun · /\kʁy\/ · #9,300 frequency

Augmentation temporaire et généralement rapide du débit ou du niveau d’un cours d’eau, liée aux précipitations, à la fonte des neiges ou à d’autres apports.

crues

adjective · /\kʁy\/ · #15,117 frequency

Féminin pluriel de cru.

crus

adjective · /\kʁy\/ · #11,557 frequency

Masculin pluriel de cru.

crut

verb · /\kʁy\/ · #30,968 frequency

Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de croire.