gropevsgroupWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,680
“grope” frequency rank
#241
“group” frequency rank
42921
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grope group
Definition To feel with or use the hands; to handle. A number of things or persons being in some relation to one another.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
grope
5 ch
group

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grope is /ɡɹəʊp/ while group is /ɡɹuːp/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grope is recorded at frequency rank #42,680, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɹəʊp/. group is at rank #241, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹuːp/.

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 42921, this pair ranks #244,912 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grope vs group

Shared letters: gopr. Private to "grope": e. Private to "group": u.

"grope" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "group" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gropeggrope · gorpe · groep · groppe · grpoe · grrope · rgope
  • groupggroup · gorup · gropu · groupp · grroup · gruop · rgoup

Frequency comparison

grope#42,680
group#241

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grope" and "group" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "grope" is a verb and "group" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "grope" or "group"?
"group" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #241 in our English list, against #42,680 for "grope". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering grope vs group

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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