ghvsGRConfusable pair

Quick tell: gh is a typographic variant, GR is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gh” is a typographic variant and “GR” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,786
“gh” frequency rank
#8,402
“GR” frequency rank
55188
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gh GR
Definition Orthographe par contrainte typographique par système h de ĝ. Itinéraire balisé pour des randonnées pédestres de longue durée.

Where the eye mixes gh and GR

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
gh
2 ch
GR

Look-alike desk: gh vs GR

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gh is \d͡ʒo\ while GR is \ʒe.ɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “gh” becomes r in “GR”, and the parts of speech differ too (typographic variant vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55188, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gh is recorded at frequency rank #46,786, classified as atypographic variant, pronounced \d͡ʒo\. GR is at rank #8,402, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʒe.ɛʁ\.

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 55188, this pair ranks #129,082 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gh vs GR

Shared letters: g. Private to "gh": h. Private to "GR": r.

"gh" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "GR" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gh" for "GR" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gh" is a typographic variant and "GR" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "gh" or "GR" show up more?
"GR" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,402 in our French list, against #46,786 for "gh". 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 "gh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "GR" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #129,082 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gh" and "GR" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gh vs gx". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #129,082 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