griesvsgrobesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“gries” and “grobes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,460
“gries” frequency rank
#41,216
“grobes” frequency rank
88676
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gries grobes
Definition grau, grauhaarig oder trübe beim Wetter Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs grob

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gries and grobes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
gries
6 ch
grobes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gries ([ɡʁiːs]) and grobes ([ɡʁoːbəs]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88676, 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]. grobes is at rank #41,216, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡʁoːbəs].

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 88676, this pair ranks #65,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gries vs grobes

Shared letters: egrs. Private to "gries": i. Private to "grobes": bo.

"gries" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "grobes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • griesggries · gires · griess · grise · grries · rgies
  • grobesggrobes · gorbes · grboes · grobbes · grobess · grobse · groebs · grrobes

Frequency comparison

gries#47,460
grobes#41,216

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gries" and "grobes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡʁiːs] versus [ɡʁoːbəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gries" or "grobes"?
"grobes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,216 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 grobes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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