grvsgrisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gr is a verb, gris is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gr” is a verb and “gris” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,832
“gr” frequency rank
#3,846
“gris” frequency rank
13678
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gr gris
Definition Callarse, estar callado. De color entre blanco y negro. :* Color: .

Where the eye mixes gr and gris

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch
gr
4 ch
gris

Look-alike desk: gr vs gris

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gr is /ɡɛr/ while gris is [ˈgɾis]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “gr” sits inside “gris”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13678, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gr is recorded at frequency rank #9,832, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɛr/. gris is at rank #3,846, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈgɾis].

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 13678, this pair ranks #286,934 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gr vs gris

Shared letters: gr. Private to "gr": -. Private to "gris": is.

"gr" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "gris" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grisggris · girs · griss · grris · grsi · rgis

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gr" and "gris" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gr" is a verb and "gris" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gr" or "gris"?
"gris" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,846 in our Spanish list, against #9,832 for "gr". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #286,934 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gr" and "gris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gara vs gr". 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 #286,934 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list