Which to use
“grains” is a noun and “grand” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,221
- “grains” frequency rank
- #1,306
- “grand” frequency rank
- 12527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grains | grand |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pigeons' dung used in tanning. See grainer. | Large, senior (high-ranking), intense, extreme, or exceptional |
Where the eye mixes grains and grand
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grains is /ɡɹeɪnz/ while grand is /ɡɹænd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grains is recorded at frequency rank #11,221, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪnz/. grand is at rank #1,306, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɡɹænd/.
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 12527, this pair ranks #481,047 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of grains vs grand
Shared letters: agnr. Private to "grains": is. Private to "grand": d.
"grains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "grand" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC