griesvsGrillWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gries is a adjective, Grill is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gries” is an adjective and “Grill” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,460
“gries” frequency rank
#8,071
“Grill” frequency rank
55531
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gries Grill
Definition grau, grauhaarig oder trübe beim Wetter mit Holzkohle, Gas oder elektrisch betriebenes Gerät, das zum Garen von Fleisch, Wurst, Fisch, Grillkäse und Gemüse auf einem Rost verwendet wird

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gries and Grill apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
gries
5 ch
Grill

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gries is [ɡʁiːs] while Grill is [ɡʁɪl]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55531, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gries is recorded at frequency rank #47,460, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡʁiːs]. Grill is at rank #8,071, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡʁɪl].

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 55531, this pair ranks #975,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gries vs Grill

Shared letters: gir. Private to "gries": es. Private to "Grill": l.

"gries" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "Grill" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • griesggries · gires · griess · grise · grries · rgies
  • Grillggrill · grlil · grrill · rgill

Frequency comparison

gries#47,460
Grill#8,071

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gries" and "Grill" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gries" is an adjective and "Grill" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gries" or "Grill"?
"Grill" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,071 in our German list, against #47,460 for "gries". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gries vs Grill

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gries”; for a noun, it's “Grill”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gries” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list