graciasvsgratisTell them apart

Quick tell: gracias is a intj, gratis is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gracias” is an intj and “gratis” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#105
“gracias” frequency rank
#1,170
“gratis” frequency rank
1275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gracias gratis
Definition Úsase para expresar agradecimiento. Que se da o hace sin un pago como contrapartida.

Where the eye mixes gracias and gratis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gracias runs 7 letters (CCVCVVC) against gratis's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gracias
6 ch
gratis

Visual trap between gracias and gratis

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gracias is [ˈgɾasjas] while gratis is [ˈgɾat̪is]. 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 (intj vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gracias is recorded at frequency rank #105, classified as anintj, pronounced [ˈgɾasjas]. gratis is at rank #1,170, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈgɾat̪is].

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 1275, this pair ranks #322,317 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gracias vs gratis

Shared letters: agirs. Private to "gracias": c. Private to "gratis": t.

"gracias" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC  ·  "gratis" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gracias ← garcias · ggracias · gracais · graccias · graciass · gracisa · graicas · grasias
  • gratis ← gartis · ggratis · graits · gratiss · gratsi · grattis · grratis · grtais

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gracias" for "gratis" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gracias" is an intj and "gratis" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gracias" vs "gratis" - which ranks higher?
"gracias" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #105 in our Spanish list, against #1,170 for "gratis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gracias" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gratis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #322,317 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gracias" and "gratis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gatas vs gratis". 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 #322,317 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