Which to use
“gates” is a verb and “gries” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,080
- “gates” frequency rank
- #47,460
- “gries” frequency rank
- 59540
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gates | gries |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gate | grau, grauhaarig oder trübe beim Wetter |
Where the eye mixes gates and gries
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gates vs gries
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gates is [ɡeɪts] while gries is [ɡʁiːs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59540, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gates is recorded at frequency rank #12,080, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡeɪts]. gries is at rank #47,460, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡʁiːs].
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 59540, this pair ranks #820,775 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gates vs gries
Shared letters: egs. Private to "gates": at. Private to "gries": ir.
"gates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "gries" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gates" for "gries" ever safe?
Frequency check: "gates" vs "gries" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "gates" and "gries" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gries" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #820,775 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gates" and "gries" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gries vs Grimms". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #820,775 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.