Which to use
“crâne” and “crans” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,659
- “crâne” frequency rank
- #41,202
- “crans” frequency rank
- 45861
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crâne | crans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Assemblage des os de la tête, partie du squelette destinée à protéger l’encéphale. | Pluriel de cran. |
Where the eye mixes crâne and crans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. crâne (CCVCV) and crans (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses crâne with crans
A purely visual mix-up. crâne (\kʁɑn\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45861, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crâne is recorded at frequency rank #4,659, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁɑn\. 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 45861, this pair ranks #199,469 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crâne vs crans
Shared letters: cnr. Private to "crâne": eâ. Private to "crans": as.
"crâne" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "crans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- crans ← carns · ccrans · cranns · cranss · crasn · crnas · crrans · rcans
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "crâne" and "crans" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "crâne" or "crans"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "crâne" and "crans" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "crâne" 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 #199,469 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crâne" 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 #199,469 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.