Which to use
“grate” and “grave” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,284
- “grate” frequency rank
- #4,239
- “grave” frequency rank
- 27523
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grate | grave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A horizontal metal grill through which liquid, ash, or small objects can fall, while larger objects cannot. | An excavation in the earth as a place of burial. |
Where the eye mixes grate and grave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses grate with grave
A purely visual mix-up. grate (/ɡɹeɪt/) and grave (/ɡɹeɪv/) 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 a single letter - t in “grate” becomes v in “grave”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27523, 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/. grave is at rank #4,239, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪv/.
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 27523, this pair ranks #378,255 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grate vs grave
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "grate": t. Private to "grave": v.
"grate" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "grave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "grate" and "grave" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "grate" vs "grave" - which ranks higher?
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 "grate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #378,255 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grate" and "grave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grasse vs grate". 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 #378,255 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.