Which to use
“gradés” is an adjective and “grains” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,835
- “gradés” frequency rank
- #8,859
- “grains” frequency rank
- 41694
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gradés | grains |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de gradé. | Pluriel de grain. |
Where the eye mixes gradés and grains
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gradés (CCVCVC) and grains (CCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses gradés with grains
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gradés is \ɡʁa.de\ while grains is \ɡʁɛ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41694, 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\. grains is at rank #8,859, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɛ̃\.
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 41694, this pair ranks #231,194 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gradés vs grains
Shared letters: agrs. Private to "gradés": dé. Private to "grains": in.
"gradés" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "grains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- grains ← garins · ggrains · grainns · grainss · graisn · granis · grians · grrains
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gradés" and "grains" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "gradés" vs "grains" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "gradés" and "grains" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gradés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grains" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #231,194 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gradés" and "grains" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gradés vs gradué". 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 #231,194 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.