grantsvsgrinsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#5,598
“grants” frequency rank
#36,164
“grins” frequency rank
41762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grants grins
Definition third-person singular simple present indicative of grant plural of grin

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
grants
5 ch
grins

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grants is /ɡɹænts/ while grins is /ɡɹɪnz/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grants is recorded at frequency rank #5,598, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɹænts/. grins is at rank #36,164, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹɪnz/.

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 41762, this pair ranks #255,379 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grants vs grins

Shared letters: gnrs. Private to "grants": at. Private to "grins": i.

"grants" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "grins" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grantsgarnts · ggrants · grannts · granst · grantss · grantts · gratns · grnats
  • grinsggrins · girns · grinns · grinss · grisn · grnis · grrins · rgins

Frequency comparison

grants#5,598
grins#36,164

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grants" and "grins" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "grants" is a verb and "grins" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "grants" or "grins"?
"grants" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,598 in our English list, against #36,164 for "grins". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering grants vs grins

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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