gramvsgrisWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#40,325
“gram” frequency rank
#3,846
“gris” frequency rank
44171
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gram gris
Definition Gram. De color entre blanco y negro. :* Color: .

Where the eye mixes gram and gris

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

4 ch
gram
4 ch
gris

Look-alike desk: gram vs gris

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gram is [ɡʀamˀ] while gris is [ˈgɾis]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gram is recorded at frequency rank #40,325, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡʀamˀ]. 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 44171, this pair ranks #138,547 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gram vs gris

Shared letters: gr. Private to "gram": am. Private to "gris": is.

"gram" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "gris" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gramgarm · ggram · gramm · grma · grram · rgam
  • grisggris · girs · griss · grris · grsi · rgis

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gram" for "gris" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gram" is a noun and "gris" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gram" vs "gris" - which ranks higher?
"gris" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,846 in our Spanish list, against #40,325 for "gram". 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 "gram" 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 #138,547 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gram" and "gris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gram vs guan". 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 #138,547 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