GrillevsgrillenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Grille is a noun, grillen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Grille” is a noun and “grillen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,461
“Grille” frequency rank
#9,211
“grillen” frequency rank
56672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Grille grillen
Definition durch zirpende Laute auffallendes Insekt (Familie Gryllidae) (im Freien zumeist in geselliger Runde) etwas bei offener Hitze auf dem Rost garen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Grille and grillen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Grille
7 ch
grillen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Grille is [ˈɡʁɪlə] while grillen is [ˈɡʁɪlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Grille” sits inside “grillen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Grille is recorded at frequency rank #47,461, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁɪlə]. grillen is at rank #9,211, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡʁɪlən].

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 56672, this pair ranks #931,135 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Grille vs grillen

Shared letters: egilr. Private to "Grille": -. Private to "grillen": n.

"Grille" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "grillen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Grilleggrille · girlle · grile · grilel · grlile · grrille · rgille
  • grillenggrillen · girllen · grileln · grilen · grillenn · grillne · grlilen · grrillen

Frequency comparison

Grille#47,461
grillen#9,211

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Grille" and "grillen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Grille" is a noun and "grillen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Grille" or "grillen"?
"grillen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,211 in our German list, against #47,461 for "Grille". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Grille vs grillen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Grille”; for a verb, it's “grillen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Grille” 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