calquevscriqueWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“calque” and “crique” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,328
“calque” frequency rank
#32,361
“crique” frequency rank
64689
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calque crique
Definition Reproduction obtenue en calquant. Petite baie, partie du rivage qui forme dans les terres un enfoncement où de petits bateaux peuvent se mettre à l’abri.

Where the eye mixes calque and crique

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. calque (CVCCVV) and crique (CCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
calque
6 ch
crique

Visual trap between calque and crique

A purely visual mix-up. calque (\kalk\) and crique (\kʁik\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

calque is recorded at frequency rank #32,328, classified as anoun, pronounced \kalk\. crique is at rank #32,361, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁik\.

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 64689, this pair ranks #75,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of calque vs crique

Shared letters: cequ. Private to "calque": al. Private to "crique": ir.

"calque" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "crique" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calque ← aclque · callque · calqeu · calqque · caluqe · caqlue · ccalque
  • crique ← ccrique · criqeu · criqque · criuqe · crqiue · crrique · rcique

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "calque" and "crique" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\kalk\ versus \kʁik\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "calque" vs "crique" - which ranks higher?
"calque" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,328 in our French list, against #32,361 for "crique". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "calque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "crique" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #75,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "calque" and "crique" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calée vs calque". 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 #75,823 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list