Which to use
“chain” and “cran” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,689
- “chain” frequency rank
- #10,304
- “cran” frequency rank
- 39993
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chain | cran |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chaîne. | Entaille qu’on fait à un corps dur pour accrocher ou arrêter quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes chain and cran
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses chain with cran
A purely visual mix-up. chain (\t͡ʃeɪn\) and cran (\kʁɑ̃\) 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 39993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chain is recorded at frequency rank #29,689, classified as anoun, pronounced \t͡ʃeɪn\. cran is at rank #10,304, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɑ̃\.
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 39993, this pair ranks #243,822 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chain vs cran
Shared letters: acn. Private to "chain": hi. Private to "cran": r.
"chain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "cran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "chain" and "cran" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "chain" or "cran"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "chain" and "cran" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,822 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chain" and "cran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chah vs chain". 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 #243,822 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.