GrosvsGrosseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,727
“Gros” frequency rank
#259
“Grosse” frequency rank
16986
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gros Grosse
Definition zwölf Dutzend (144 Stück) Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gros

Where the eye mixes Gros and Grosse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Gros runs 4 letters (CCVC) against Grosse's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Gros
6 ch
Grosse

Visual trap between Gros and Grosse

A purely visual mix-up. Gros ([ɡʁɔs]) and Grosse ([ˈɡʁɔsə]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Gros” sits inside “Grosse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16986, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gros is recorded at frequency rank #16,727, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡʁɔs]. Grosse is at rank #259, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁɔsə].

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 16986, this pair ranks #1,931,342 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gros vs Grosse

Shared letters: gors. Private to "Gros": -. Private to "Grosse": e.

"Gros" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Grosse" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gros ← ggros · gors · gross · grros · grso · rgos
  • Grosse ← ggrosse · gorsse · grose · groses · große · grrosse · grsose · rgosse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gros" for "Grosse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡʁɔs] versus [ˈɡʁɔsə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Gros" vs "Grosse" - which ranks higher?
"Grosse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #259 in our German list, against #16,727 for "Gros". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gros" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Grosse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,931,342 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gros" and "Grosse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gao vs Gros". 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 #1,931,342 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list