cracvscracheWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: crac is a onomatopoeia, crache is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“crac” is an onomatopoeia and “crache” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,255
“crac” frequency rank
#12,347
“crache” frequency rank
54602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature crac crache
Definition Exprime le bruit que font certains corps, durs, secs et solides, soit en se frottant violemment, soit en éclatant. Rejet de métal en fusion par l'avant d'une tuyère.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set crac and crache apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
crac
6 ch
crache

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: crac is \kʁak\ while crache is \kʁaʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “crac” sits inside “crache”, and the parts of speech differ too (onomatopoeia vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

crac is recorded at frequency rank #42,255, classified as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \kʁak\. crache is at rank #12,347, 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 54602, this pair ranks #132,941 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of crac vs crache

Shared letters: acr. Private to "crac": -. Private to "crache": eh.

"crac" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "crache" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • craccarc · ccrac · cracc · crca · crrac · rcac
  • crachecarche · ccrache · cracche · craceh · crachhe · crahce · crcahe · crrache

Frequency comparison

crac#42,255
crache#12,347

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "crac" and "crache" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "crac" is an onomatopoeia and "crache" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "crac" or "crache"?
"crache" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,347 in our French list, against #42,255 for "crac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering crac vs crache

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an onomatopoeia, it's “crac”; for a noun, it's “crache”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “crac” 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