Which to use
“cratères” and “critères” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,233
- “cratères” frequency rank
- #3,064
- “critères” frequency rank
- 41297
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cratères | critères |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de cratère. | Pluriel de critère. |
Where the eye mixes cratères and critères
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. cratères and critères follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between cratères and critères
A purely visual mix-up. cratères (\kʁa.tɛʁ\) and critères (\kʁi.tɛʁ\) 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 a single letter - a in “cratères” becomes i in “critères”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cratères is recorded at frequency rank #38,233, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁa.tɛʁ\. critères is at rank #3,064, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁi.tɛʁ\.
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 41297, this pair ranks #234,156 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cratères vs critères
Shared letters: cerstè. Private to "cratères": a. Private to "critères": i.
"cratères" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "critères" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cratères" for "critères" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "cratères" or "critères" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cratères" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "critères" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #234,156 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cratères" and "critères" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cratère vs cratères". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #234,156 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.