ghvsgréWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#46,786
“gh” frequency rank
#5,767
“gré” frequency rank
52553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gh gré
Definition Orthographe par contrainte typographique par système h de ĝ. Volonté, caprice, fantaisie.

Where the eye mixes gh and gré

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

2 ch
gh
3 ch
gré

Why the eye confuses gh with gré

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gh is \d͡ʒo\ while gré is \ɡʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, 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 52553, 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\. 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 52553, this pair ranks #146,943 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gh vs gré

Shared letters: g. Private to "gh": h. Private to "gré": .

"gh" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "gré" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gh" and "gré" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gh" is a typographic variant and "gré" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gh" vs "gré" - which ranks higher?
"gré" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,767 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.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gh" 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 #146,943 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gh" and "gré" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gh vs gx". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #146,943 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