Which to use
“clé” is a noun and “cru” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,987
- “clé” frequency rank
- #1,326
- “cru” frequency rank
- 3313
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clé | cru |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument de métal que l’on introduit dans une serrure pour ouvrir ou fermer un accès. Ancienne clé à panneton que l'on place et fait tourner dans la serrure d'une porte, d'un coffre, etc. | Qui n’est pas cuit. |
Where the eye mixes clé and cru
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. clé and cru follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses clé with cru
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clé is \kle\ while cru is \kʁy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clé is recorded at frequency rank #1,987, classified as anoun, pronounced \kle\. cru is at rank #1,326, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kʁy\.
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 3313, this pair ranks #434,331 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clé vs cru
Shared letters: c. Private to "clé": lé. Private to "cru": ru.
"clé" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "cru" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clé" and "cru" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "clé" vs "cru" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "clé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cru" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,331 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clé" and "cru" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs clé". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #434,331 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.