Which to use
“gâter” and “gratter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,031
- “gâter” frequency rank
- #12,587
- “gratter” frequency rank
- 38618
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gâter | gratter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Endommager, mettre en mauvais état, abîmer en donnant une mauvaise forme ou autrement. | Racler pour nettoyer, pour effacer ou pour polir. |
Where the eye mixes gâter and gratter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gâter runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against gratter's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: gâter vs gratter
A purely visual mix-up. gâter (\ɡɑ.te\) and gratter (\ɡʁa.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38618, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gâter is recorded at frequency rank #26,031, classified as averb, pronounced \ɡɑ.te\. gratter is at rank #12,587, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɡʁa.te\.
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 38618, this pair ranks #254,016 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gâter vs gratter
Shared letters: egrt. Private to "gâter": â. Private to "gratter": a.
"gâter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "gratter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- gratter ← gartter · ggratter · grater · gratetr · gratterr · grattre · grratter · grtater
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gâter" and "gratter" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "gâter" vs "gratter" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gâter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gratter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,016 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gâter" and "gratter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gabe vs gâter". 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 #254,016 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.