consvscrusConfusable pair

Which to use

“cons” and “crus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,243
“cons” frequency rank
#11,557
“crus” frequency rank
14800
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cons crus
Definition Masculin pluriel de con. Masculin pluriel de cru.

Where the eye mixes cons and crus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. cons (CVCC) and crus (CCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
cons
4 ch
crus

Look-alike desk: cons vs crus

A purely visual mix-up. cons (\kɔ̃\) and crus (\kʁy\) 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 14800, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cons is recorded at frequency rank #3,243, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃\. crus is at rank #11,557, 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 14800, this pair ranks #395,168 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cons vs crus

Shared letters: cs. Private to "cons": no. Private to "crus": ru.

"cons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "crus" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cons ← ccons · cnos · conns · conss · cosn · ocns
  • crus ← ccrus · crrus · crsu · cruss · curs · rcus

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cons" for "crus" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃\ versus \kʁy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cons" vs "crus" - which ranks higher?
"cons" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,243 in our French list, against #11,557 for "crus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "cons" and "crus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "crus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #395,168 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cons" and "crus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "casus vs crus". 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 #395,168 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list