crucialevscruciauxWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,704
“cruciale” frequency rank
#40,202
“cruciaux” frequency rank
58906
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cruciale cruciaux
Definition Féminin singulier de crucial. Masculin pluriel de crucial.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cruciale and cruciaux apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
cruciale
8 ch
cruciaux

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cruciale (\kʁy.sjal\) and cruciaux (\kʁy.sjo\) 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 58906, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cruciale is recorded at frequency rank #18,704, classified as anadj, pronounced \kʁy.sjal\. cruciaux is at rank #40,202, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kʁy.sjo\.

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 58906, this pair ranks #106,219 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cruciale vs cruciaux

Shared letters: aciru. Private to "cruciale": el. Private to "cruciaux": x.

"cruciale" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVVCV  ·  "cruciaux" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • crucialeccruciale · crcuiale · crruciale · crucaile · crucciale · cruciael · crucialle · crucilae
  • cruciauxccruciaux · crcuiaux · crruciaux · crucaiux · crucciaux · cruciauxx · cruciaxu · cruciuax

Frequency comparison

cruciale#18,704
cruciaux#40,202

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cruciale" and "cruciaux" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kʁy.sjal\ versus \kʁy.sjo\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cruciale" or "cruciaux"?
"cruciale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,704 in our French list, against #40,202 for "cruciaux". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cruciale vs cruciaux

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 “cruciale” 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