Which to use
“crains” and “cran” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,223
- “crains” frequency rank
- #10,304
- “cran” frequency rank
- 18527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crains | cran |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de crain. | Entaille qu’on fait à un corps dur pour accrocher ou arrêter quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes crains and cran
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between crains and cran
A purely visual mix-up. crains (\kʁɛ̃\) and cran (\kʁɑ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crains is recorded at frequency rank #8,223, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁɛ̃\. cran is at rank #10,304, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɑ̃\.
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 18527, this pair ranks #377,865 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crains vs cran
Shared letters: acnr. Private to "crains": is. Private to "cran": -.
"crains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "cran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crains" for "cran" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crains" vs "cran" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "crains" and "cran" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "crains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #377,865 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crains" and "cran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coon vs cran". 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 #377,865 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.