Which to use
“gem” and “gré” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,782
- “gem” frequency rank
- #5,767
- “gré” frequency rank
- 46549
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gem | gré |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gemme. | Volonté, caprice, fantaisie. |
Where the eye mixes gem and gré
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gem vs gré
A purely visual mix-up. gem (\dʒɛm\) and gré (\ɡʁe\) 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 46549, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gem is recorded at frequency rank #40,782, classified as anoun, pronounced \dʒɛm\. gré is at rank #5,767, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁe\.
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 46549, this pair ranks #194,030 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gem vs gré
Shared letters: g. Private to "gem": em. Private to "gré": ré.
"gem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "gré" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gem" for "gré" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "gem" or "gré" show up more?
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 "gem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gré" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #194,030 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gem" and "gré" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gem vs gx". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #194,030 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.