gh vs gui, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#46,786
“gh” frequency rank: #21,335
“gui” frequency rank: 68121
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	gh	gui
Definition	Orthographe par contrainte typographique par système h de ĝ.	Plante verte hémiparasite et épiphyte à tiges articulées dichotomiques et à baies globuleuses qui croissent sur les branches de certains arbres, grâce à leur suçoir conique (ou haustorium) et dont les graines collantes sont disséminées par divers oiseaux.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gh and gui apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch

3 ch

gui

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gh is \d͡ʒo\ while gui is \ɡi\. 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 68121, 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\. gui is at rank #21,335, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡi\.

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 68121, this pair ranks #60,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gh vs gui

Shared letters: g. Private to "gh": h. Private to "gui": iu.

"gh" · 2 letters · shape CC · "gui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

gh#46,786

gui#21,335

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gh" and "gui" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gh" is a typographic variant and "gui" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "gh" or "gui"?

"gui" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,335 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.

Remembering gh vs gui

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a typographic variant, it's “gh”; for a noun, it's “gui”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gh” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable