Which to use
“cri” is a noun and “cru” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,523
- “cri” frequency rank
- #14,555
- “cru” frequency rank
- 43078
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cri | cru |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | povo indígena da América do Norte, que habitava desde as montanhas Rochosas até o oceano Atlântico, tanto nos Estados Unidos da América quanto no Canadá | que não foi cozido ou não foi cozido o suficiente |
Where the eye mixes cri and cru
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. cri and cru follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: cri vs cru
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cri is /ˈkɾi/ while cru is /ˈkɾu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “cri” becomes u in “cru”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cri is recorded at frequency rank #28,523, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɾi/. cru is at rank #14,555, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɾu/.
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 43078, this pair ranks #22,598 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cri vs cru
Shared letters: cr. Private to "cri": i. Private to "cru": u.
"cri" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "cru" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cri" and "cru" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cri" vs "cru" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cri" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cru" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,598 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cri" and "cru" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coin vs cri". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #22,598 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.