Which to use
“grained” is an adjective and “grains” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,417
- “grained” frequency rank
- #11,221
- “grains” frequency rank
- 43638
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grained | grains |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having a grain or grains. | Pigeons' dung used in tanning. See grainer. |
Letter map: grained vs grains
Shared letters muted; letters that set grained and grains apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Grammar separator: grained vs grains
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: grained is anadjective and grainsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grained is recorded at frequency rank #32,417, classified as anadj. grains is at rank #11,221, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪnz/.
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 43638, this pair ranks #238,063 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grained vs grains
Shared letters: aginr. Private to "grained": de. Private to "grains": s.
"grained" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "grains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grained" and "grains" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "grained" or "grains"?
After this comparison
You've compared "grained" and "grains". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "grained" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grains" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,063 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grained" and "grains" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grained vs groaned". 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 #238,063 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.