goussevsgrosseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,314
“gousse” frequency rank
#981
“grosse” frequency rank
42295
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gousse grosse
Definition Fruit sec, dépourvu de cloison, à deux valves, garnies chacune d’une rangée de graines, et avec deux fentes de déhiscence (mot utilisé notamment pour les fruits des légumineuses). Une douzaine de douzaines.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gousse and grosse apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
gousse
6 ch
grosse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gousse (\ɡus\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gousse is recorded at frequency rank #41,314, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡus\. 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 42295, this pair ranks #226,695 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gousse vs grosse

Shared letters: egos. Private to "gousse": u. Private to "grosse": r.

"gousse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "grosse" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gousseggousse · gosuse · gouse · guosse · ogusse
  • grosseggrosse · gorsse · grose · groses · grrosse · grsose · rgosse

Frequency comparison

gousse#41,314
grosse#981

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gousse" and "grosse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡus\ versus \ɡʁos\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gousse" or "grosse"?
"grosse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #981 in our French list, against #41,314 for "gousse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering gousse 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 “gousse” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list