gravsgrèsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,481
“gra” frequency rank
#12,976
“grès” frequency rank
57457
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gra grès
Definition Acte, action. Roche détritique formée par l’agglomération de nombreux petits grains unis par un ciment naturel de composition variable (siliceux, calcaire, etc.).

Where the eye mixes gra and grès

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
gra
4 ch
grès

Look-alike desk: gra vs grès

A purely visual mix-up. gra (\ˈɡrɑː\) and grès (\ɡʁɛ\) 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 57457, 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\. grès is at rank #12,976, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɛ\.

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 57457, this pair ranks #114,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gra vs grès

Shared letters: gr. Private to "gra": a. Private to "grès": .

"gra" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "grès" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gra" and "grès" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ˈɡrɑː\ versus \ɡʁɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "gra" or "grès" show up more?
"grès" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,976 in our French list, against #44,481 for "gra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "grès" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #114,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gra" and "grès" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gra vs gx". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #114,940 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list