graduévsgrueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gradué is a adjective, grue is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gradué” is an adjective and “grue” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,482
“gradué” frequency rank
#16,633
“grue” frequency rank
61115
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gradué grue
Definition Sur lequel sont portées des marques à intervalles réguliers afin de permettre la mesure. Gros oiseau voyageur, de l’ordre des Échassiers, qui vole fort haut et par bandes.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gradué and grue apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
gradué
4 ch
grue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gradué is \ɡʁa.dɥe\ while grue is \ɡʁy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61115, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gradué is recorded at frequency rank #44,482, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɡʁa.dɥe\. grue is at rank #16,633, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁy\.

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 61115, this pair ranks #93,988 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gradué vs grue

Shared letters: gru. Private to "gradué": adé. Private to "grue": e.

"gradué" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV  ·  "grue" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grueggrue · greu · grrue · gure · rgue

Frequency comparison

gradué#44,482
grue#16,633

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gradué" and "grue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gradué" is an adjective and "grue" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gradué" or "grue"?
"grue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,633 in our French list, against #44,482 for "gradué". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gradué vs grue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gradué”; for a noun, it's “grue”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gradué” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list