Which to use
“grau” is an adjective and “graut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,519
- “grau” frequency rank
- #46,707
- “graut” frequency rank
- 51226
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grau | graut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in einer Farbe, die eine Mischung aus schwarz und weiß ist, gehalten | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs grauen |
Where the eye mixes grau and graut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. grau runs 4 letters (CCVV) against graut's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses grau with graut
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grau is [ɡʁaʊ̯] while graut is [ɡʁaʊ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “grau” sits inside “graut”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51226, 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]. graut is at rank #46,707, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡʁaʊ̯t].
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 51226, this pair ranks #1,143,692 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grau vs graut
Shared letters: agru. Private to "grau": -. Private to "graut": t.
"grau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "graut" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "grau" and "graut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "grau" or "graut" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "grau" and "graut" 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 "graut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,143,692 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grau" and "graut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graut 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 #1,143,692 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.