grafvsgrèsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#46,196
“graf” frequency rank
#12,976
“grès” frequency rank
59172
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature graf grès
Definition Variante orthographique de graff. 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 graf and grès

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

4 ch
graf
4 ch
grès

Visual trap between graf and grès

A purely visual mix-up. graf (\ɡʁaf\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

graf is recorded at frequency rank #46,196, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁaf\. 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 59172, this pair ranks #104,650 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of graf vs grès

Shared letters: gr. Private to "graf": af. Private to "grès": .

"graf" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "grès" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grafgarf · ggraf · grfa · grraf · rgaf

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "graf" for "grès" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ɡʁaf\ versus \ɡʁɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "graf" 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 #46,196 for "graf". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "graf" 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 #104,650 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "graf" and "grès" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graf vs grow". 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 #104,650 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