galvsgraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“gal” and “gra” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,563
“gal” frequency rank
#44,481
“gra” frequency rank
68044
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gal gra
Definition Unité de mesure d’accélération du système CGS, valant 1 centimètre par seconde par seconde, soit 0,01 mètre par seconde carrée, et dont le symbole est Gal. Acte, action.

Where the eye mixes gal and gra

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

3 ch
gal
3 ch
gra

Visual trap between gal and gra

A purely visual mix-up. gal (\ɡal\) and gra (\ˈɡrɑː\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68044, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gal is recorded at frequency rank #23,563, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡal\. gra is at rank #44,481, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈɡrɑː\.

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 68044, this pair ranks #60,840 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gal vs gra

Shared letters: ag. Private to "gal": l. Private to "gra": r.

"gal" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "gra" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gal" for "gra" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ɡal\ versus \ˈɡrɑː\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gal" vs "gra" - which ranks higher?
"gal" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,563 in our French list, against #44,481 for "gra". 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 "gal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,840 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gal" and "gra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gra vs gx". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #60,840 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list