Which to use
“crânes” is an adjective and “crans” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,161
- “crânes” frequency rank
- #41,202
- “crans” frequency rank
- 64363
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crânes | crans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de crâne. | Pluriel de cran. |
Where the eye mixes crânes and crans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. crânes runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against crans's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses crânes with crans
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: crânes is \kʁan\ while crans is \kʁɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crânes is recorded at frequency rank #23,161, classified as anadj, pronounced \kʁan\. 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 64363, this pair ranks #77,412 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of crânes vs crans
Shared letters: cnrs. Private to "crânes": eâ. Private to "crans": a.
"crânes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "crans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- crans ← carns · ccrans · cranns · cranss · crasn · crnas · crrans · rcans
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "crânes" and "crans" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "crânes" or "crans"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "crânes" and "crans" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "crânes" 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 #77,412 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crânes" 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 #77,412 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.