crauvscrowWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“crau” and “crow” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,959
“crau” frequency rank
#34,485
“crow” frequency rank
79444
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature crau crow
Definition Plaine semée de pierres et de galets arrondis, couverte d’une steppe propice aux activités pastorales. Corneille.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set crau and crow apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
crau
4 ch
crow

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. crau (\kʁo\) and crow (\kɹəʊ\) 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 79444, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

crau is recorded at frequency rank #44,959, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁo\. crow is at rank #34,485, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɹəʊ\.

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 79444, this pair ranks #23,251 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of crau vs crow

Shared letters: cr. Private to "crau": au. Private to "crow": ow.

"crau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "crow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • craucaru · ccrau · crrau · crua · rcau
  • crowccrow · corw · croww · crrow · crwo · rcow

Frequency comparison

crau#44,959
crow#34,485

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "crau" and "crow" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kʁo\ versus \kɹəʊ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "crau" or "crow"?
"crow" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,485 in our French list, against #44,959 for "crau". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering crau vs crow

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “crau” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list