Which to use
“coucher” and “cracher” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,271
- “coucher” frequency rank
- #10,478
- “cracher” frequency rank
- 12749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coucher | cracher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Étendre de son long sur la terre, sur un lit, etc., mettre quelque chose en position horizontale. | Projeter par la bouche de la salive, de la pituite ou toute autre mucosité des voies respiratoires. |
Where the eye mixes coucher and cracher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. coucher (CVVCCVC) and cracher (CCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses coucher with cracher
A purely visual mix-up. coucher (\ku.ʃe\) and cracher (\kʁa.ʃe\) 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 12749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coucher is recorded at frequency rank #2,271, classified as averb, pronounced \ku.ʃe\. cracher is at rank #10,478, tagged as averb, pronounced \kʁa.ʃe\.
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 12749, this pair ranks #403,918 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of coucher vs cracher
Shared letters: cehr. Private to "coucher": ou. Private to "cracher": a.
"coucher" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "cracher" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coucher" for "cracher" ever safe?
Frequency check: "coucher" vs "cracher" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "coucher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cracher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #403,918 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coucher" and "cracher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coaches vs cracher". 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 #403,918 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.