Which to use
“glu” and “gra” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,358
- “glu” frequency rank
- #44,481
- “gra” frequency rank
- 91839
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | glu | gra |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Colle végétale extraite du houx, du gui, des baies de genêt, dont on se sert surtout pour prendre les oiseaux. | Acte, action. |
Where the eye mixes glu and gra
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. glu and gra follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses glu with gra
A purely visual mix-up. glu (\ɡly\) and gra (\ˈɡrɑː\) 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 91839, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
glu is recorded at frequency rank #47,358, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡly\. gra is at rank #44,481, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈɡrɑː\.
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 91839, this pair ranks #3,486 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of glu vs gra
Shared letters: g. Private to "glu": lu. Private to "gra": ar.
"glu" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "gra" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "glu" and "gra" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "glu" or "gra" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "glu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,486 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "glu" and "gra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glu vs glue". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #3,486 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.