Which to use
“goutte” and “grotte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,398
- “goutte” frequency rank
- #7,329
- “grotte” frequency rank
- 13727
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | goutte | grotte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Très petite quantité d’un liquide qui se détache avec une forme sphérique. | Cavité plus ou moins profonde, dans un rocher ou dans une montagne, naturelle ou faite de main d’homme. |
Where the eye mixes goutte and grotte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. goutte (CVVCCV) and grotte (CCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses goutte with grotte
A purely visual mix-up. goutte (\ɡut\) and grotte (\ɡʁɔt\) 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 13727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
goutte is recorded at frequency rank #6,398, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡut\. grotte is at rank #7,329, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɔt\.
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 13727, this pair ranks #399,788 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of goutte vs grotte
Shared letters: egot. Private to "goutte": u. Private to "grotte": r.
"goutte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "grotte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "goutte" and "grotte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "goutte" or "grotte" 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 "goutte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grotte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #399,788 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "goutte" and "grotte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "goûtez vs goutte". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #399,788 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.