Which to use
“gra” is a noun and “grave” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,481
- “gra” frequency rank
- #965
- “grave” frequency rank
- 45446
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gra | grave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acte, action. | Qui peut avoir des conséquences fâcheuses, profondes. |
Where the eye mixes gra and grave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. gra runs 3 letters (CCV) against grave's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: gra vs grave
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gra is \ˈɡrɑː\ while grave is \ɡʁav\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “gra” sits inside “grave”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45446, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gra is recorded at frequency rank #44,481, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈɡrɑː\. grave is at rank #965, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɡʁav\.
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 45446, this pair ranks #202,647 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gra vs grave
Shared letters: agr. Private to "gra": -. Private to "grave": ev.
"gra" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "grave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- grave ← garve · ggrave · graev · gravve · grrave · grvae · rgave
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gra" and "grave" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "gra" or "grave" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #202,647 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gra" and "grave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gra vs gx". 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 #202,647 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.