Which to use
“coins” and “crains” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,842
- “coins” frequency rank
- #8,223
- “crains” frequency rank
- 14065
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coins | crains |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de coin. | Pluriel de crain. |
Where the eye mixes coins and crains
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. coins runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against crains's 6 (CCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: coins vs crains
A purely visual mix-up. coins (\kwɛ̃\) and crains (\kʁɛ̃\) 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 14065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coins is recorded at frequency rank #5,842, classified as anoun, pronounced \kwɛ̃\. crains is at rank #8,223, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɛ̃\.
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 14065, this pair ranks #398,336 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of coins vs crains
Shared letters: cins. Private to "coins": o. Private to "crains": ar.
"coins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "crains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "coins" and "crains" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "coins" vs "crains" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "coins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crains" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,336 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coins" and "crains" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coins vs coon". 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 #398,336 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.