gradésvsgraduéeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,835
“gradés” frequency rank
#40,294
“graduée” frequency rank
73129
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gradés graduée
Definition Masculin pluriel de gradé. Féminin singulier de gradué.

Where the eye mixes gradés and graduée

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gradés runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against graduée's 7 (CCVCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
gradés
7 ch
graduée

Visual trap between gradés and graduée

A purely visual mix-up. gradés (\ɡʁa.de\) and graduée (\ɡʁa.dɥe\) 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 73129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gradés is recorded at frequency rank #32,835, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɡʁa.de\. graduée is at rank #40,294, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɡʁa.dɥe\.

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 73129, this pair ranks #41,521 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gradés vs graduée

Shared letters: adgré. Private to "gradés": s. Private to "graduée": eu.

"gradés" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "graduée" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gradés" for "graduée" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ɡʁa.de\ versus \ɡʁa.dɥe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gradés" vs "graduée" - which ranks higher?
"gradés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,835 in our French list, against #40,294 for "graduée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "gradés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "graduée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #41,521 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gradés" and "graduée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grabuge vs graduée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #41,521 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