goosevsgrosseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“goose” and “grosse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,978
“goose” frequency rank
#981
“grosse” frequency rank
32959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature goose grosse
Definition Oie. Une douzaine de douzaines.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set goose and grosse apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
goose
6 ch
grosse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. goose (\ɡuːs\) and grosse (\ɡʁos\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

goose is recorded at frequency rank #31,978, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡuːs\. grosse is at rank #981, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁos\.

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 32959, this pair ranks #293,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of goose vs grosse

Shared letters: egos. Private to "goose": -. Private to "grosse": r.

"goose" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "grosse" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gooseggoose · gooes · goosse · gosoe · ogose
  • grosseggrosse · gorsse · grose · groses · grrosse · grsose · rgosse

Frequency comparison

goose#31,978
grosse#981

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "goose" and "grosse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡuːs\ versus \ɡʁos\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "goose" or "grosse"?
"grosse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #981 in our French list, against #31,978 for "goose". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering goose vs grosse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “goose” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list