cervscréeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,052
“cer” frequency rank
#2,272
“crée” frequency rank
48324
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cer crée
Definition Ciel. Sorte de toile.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cer and crée apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
cer
4 ch
crée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cer (\ˈʧeɾ\) and crée (\kʁe.ə\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48324, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cer is recorded at frequency rank #46,052, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈʧeɾ\. crée is at rank #2,272, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁe.ə\.

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 48324, this pair ranks #179,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cer vs crée

Shared letters: cer. Private to "cer": -. Private to "crée": é.

"cer" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "crée" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Frequency comparison

cer#46,052
crée#2,272

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cer" and "crée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈʧeɾ\ versus \kʁe.ə\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cer" or "crée"?
"crée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,272 in our French list, against #46,052 for "cer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cer vs crée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cer” 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