Which to use
“clou” and “crau” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,128
- “clou” frequency rank
- #44,959
- “crau” frequency rank
- 57087
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clou | crau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tige rigide, de fer ou d’autre métal, courte, pointue, et à la tête aplatie ou protubérante, qui sert de cheville pour fixer ou à pendre quelque chose. | Plaine semée de pierres et de galets arrondis, couverte d’une steppe propice aux activités pastorales. |
Where the eye mixes clou and crau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses clou with crau
A purely visual mix-up. clou (\klu\) and crau (\kʁo\) 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 57087, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clou is recorded at frequency rank #12,128, classified as anoun, pronounced \klu\. crau is at rank #44,959, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁo\.
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 57087, this pair ranks #117,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clou vs crau
Shared letters: cu. Private to "clou": lo. Private to "crau": ar.
"clou" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "crau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clou" and "crau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "clou" or "crau"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "clou" and "crau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #117,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clou" and "crau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chah vs crau". 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 #117,110 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.