Which to use
“crains” and “crans” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,223
- “crains” frequency rank
- #41,202
- “crans” frequency rank
- 49425
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crains | crans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de crain. | Pluriel de cran. |
Where the eye mixes crains and crans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. crains runs 6 letters (CCVVCC) against crans's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: crains vs crans
A purely visual mix-up. crains (\kʁɛ̃\) and crans (\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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49425, 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\. crans is at rank #41,202, 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 49425, this pair ranks #170,782 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crains vs crans
Shared letters: acnrs. Private to "crains": i. Private to "crans": -.
"crains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "crans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crains" for "crans" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crains" vs "crans" - 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 "crains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,782 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crains" and "crans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCAS vs crans". 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 #170,782 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.