gradué vs grave, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#35,065
“gradué” frequency rank: #1,637
“grave” frequency rank: 36702
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	gradué	grave
Definition	Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de graduar.	De gran importancia o con consecuencias serias.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gradué and grave apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

gradué

5 ch

grave

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gradué is [gɾaˈð̞we] while grave is [ˈgɾaβ̞e]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gradué is recorded at frequency rank #35,065, classified as averb, pronounced [gɾaˈð̞we]. grave is at rank #1,637, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈgɾaβ̞e].

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 36702, this pair ranks #179,268 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gradué vs grave

Shared letters: agr. Private to "gradué": dué. Private to "grave": ev.

"gradué" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV · "grave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

grave ← garve · ggrave · graev · gravve · grrave · grvae · rgave

Frequency comparison

gradué#35,065

grave#1,637

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gradué" and "grave" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gradué" is a verb and "grave" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "gradué" or "grave"?

"grave" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,637 in our Spanish list, against #35,065 for "gradué". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering gradué vs grave

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “gradué”; for an adjective, it's “grave”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gradué” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable