crivscroîtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,649
“cri” frequency rank
#18,977
“croît” frequency rank
24626
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cri croît
Definition Action de crier, son perçant ou puissant émis par la voix d’un être humain ou d’un animal. Augmentation d’un troupeau par la naissance des petits.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
cri
5 ch
croît

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cri (\kʁi\) and croît (\kʁwa\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cri is recorded at frequency rank #5,649, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁi\. croît is at rank #18,977, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁwa\.

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 24626, this pair ranks #345,533 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cri vs croît

Shared letters: cr. Private to "cri": i. Private to "croît": otî.

"cri" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "croît" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Frequency comparison

cri#5,649
croît#18,977

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cri" and "croît" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kʁi\ versus \kʁwa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cri" or "croît"?
"cri" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,649 in our French list, against #18,977 for "croît". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cri vs croît

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 “cri” 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