Which to use
“grate” and “grates” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,284
- “grate” frequency rank
- #43,675
- “grates” frequency rank
- 66959
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grate | grates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A horizontal metal grill through which liquid, ash, or small objects can fall, while larger objects cannot. | plural of grate |
Where the eye mixes grate and grates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. grate runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against grates's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between grate and grates
A purely visual mix-up. grate (/ɡɹeɪt/) and grates (/ɡɹeɪts/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “grate” sits inside “grates”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grate is recorded at frequency rank #23,284, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪt/. grates is at rank #43,675, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪts/.
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 66959, this pair ranks #65,586 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of grate vs grates
Shared letters: aegrt. Private to "grate": -. Private to "grates": s.
"grate" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "grates" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grate" and "grates" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "grate" or "grates"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "grate" and "grates" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "grate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,586 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grate" and "grates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gazes vs grates". 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 #65,586 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.