civscriWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ci is a adverb, cri is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ci” is an adverb and “cri” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#264
“ci” frequency rank
#5,649
“cri” frequency rank
5913
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ci cri
Definition ou (Utilisé uniquement dans les compositions, pas utilisé isolément) Ici. Action de crier, son perçant ou puissant émis par la voix d’un être humain ou d’un animal.

Where the eye mixes ci and cri

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch
ci
3 ch
cri

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ci is \si\ while cri is \kʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ci is recorded at frequency rank #264, classified as anadv, pronounced \si\. cri is at rank #5,649, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁi\.

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 5913, this pair ranks #427,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ci vs cri

Shared letters: ci. Private to "ci": -. Private to "cri": r.

"ci" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "cri" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ci" and "cri" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ci" is an adverb and "cri" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ci" or "cri"?
"ci" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #264 in our French list, against #5,649 for "cri". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list