croquevscrotteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,703
“croque” frequency rank
#22,221
“crotte” frequency rank
40924
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature croque crotte
Definition Croque-monsieur. Fiente, en forme de boulettes, de certains animaux.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set croque and crotte apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
croque
6 ch
crotte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. croque (\kʁɔk\) and crotte (\kʁɔt\) 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 40924, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

croque is recorded at frequency rank #18,703, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁɔk\. crotte is at rank #22,221, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɔt\.

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 40924, this pair ranks #236,911 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of croque vs crotte

Shared letters: ceor. Private to "croque": qu. Private to "crotte": t.

"croque" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV  ·  "crotte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • croqueccroque · corque · croqeu · croqque · crouqe · crqoue · crroque · rcoque
  • crotteccrotte · cortte · crote · crotet · crrotte · crtote · rcotte

Frequency comparison

croque#18,703
crotte#22,221

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "croque" and "crotte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kʁɔk\ versus \kʁɔt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "croque" or "crotte"?
"croque" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,703 in our French list, against #22,221 for "crotte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering croque vs crotte

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 “croque” 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