cracvscrusWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: crac is a onomatopoeia, crus is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#42,255
“crac” frequency rank
#11,557
“crus” frequency rank
53812
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature crac crus
Definition Exprime le bruit que font certains corps, durs, secs et solides, soit en se frottant violemment, soit en éclatant. Masculin pluriel de cru.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set crac and crus apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
crac
4 ch
crus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: crac is \kʁak\ while crus is \kʁy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (onomatopoeia vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53812, 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\. 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 53812, this pair ranks #138,196 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of crac vs crus

Shared letters: cr. Private to "crac": a. Private to "crus": su.

"crac" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "crus" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • craccarc · ccrac · cracc · crca · crrac · rcac
  • crusccrus · crrus · crsu · cruss · curs · rcus

Frequency comparison

crac#42,255
crus#11,557

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "crac" and "crus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "crac" is an onomatopoeia and "crus" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "crac" or "crus"?
"crus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,557 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 crus

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an onomatopoeia, it's “crac”; for an adjective, it's “crus”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list