cravscrashWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cra is a adverb, crash is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cra” is an adverb and “crash” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,201
“cra” frequency rank
#7,044
“crash” frequency rank
48245
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cra crash
Definition très Atterrissage très brutal d’un avion le train rentré.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cra and crash apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
cra
5 ch
crash

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cra is \kʁa\ while crash is \kʁaʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cra” sits inside “crash”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cra is recorded at frequency rank #41,201, classified as anadv, pronounced \kʁa\. crash is at rank #7,044, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁaʃ\.

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 48245, this pair ranks #180,462 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cra vs crash

Shared letters: acr. Private to "cra": -. Private to "crash": hs.

"cra" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "crash" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • crashcarsh · ccrash · crahs · crashh · crassh · crrash · crsah · rcash

Frequency comparison

cra#41,201
crash#7,044

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cra" and "crash" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cra" is an adverb and "crash" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cra" or "crash"?
"crash" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,044 in our French list, against #41,201 for "cra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cra vs crash

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “cra”; for a noun, it's “crash”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cra” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list