Which to use
“grau” and “graue” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,519
- “grau” frequency rank
- #8,723
- “graue” frequency rank
- 13242
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grau | graue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in einer Farbe, die eine Mischung aus schwarz und weiß ist, gehalten | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs grau |
Where the eye mixes grau and graue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between grau and graue
A purely visual mix-up. grau ([ɡʁaʊ̯]) and graue ([ˈɡʁaʊ̯ə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “grau” sits inside “graue”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grau is recorded at frequency rank #4,519, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡʁaʊ̯]. graue is at rank #8,723, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁaʊ̯ə].
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 13242, this pair ranks #1,959,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of grau vs graue
Shared letters: agru. Private to "grau": -. Private to "graue": e.
"grau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "graue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grau" and "graue" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "grau" or "graue"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "grau" and "graue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "grau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "graue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,959,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grau" and "graue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graue vs grave". 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 #1,959,201 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.