Which to use
“grain” is a noun and “gram” is an onomatopoeia - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,620
- “grain” frequency rank
- #31,051
- “gram” frequency rank
- 37671
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grain | gram |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fruit et semence des céréales contenu dans l’épi. | Ce mot n’a pas de sens précis et fait partie d’une comptine enfantine. |
Where the eye mixes grain and gram
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: grain vs gram
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grain is \ɡʁɛ̃\ while gram is \ɡʁam\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs onomatopoeia), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grain is recorded at frequency rank #6,620, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɛ̃\. gram is at rank #31,051, tagged as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \ɡʁam\.
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 37671, this pair ranks #260,800 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grain vs gram
Shared letters: agr. Private to "grain": in. Private to "gram": m.
"grain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "gram" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grain" and "gram" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "grain" vs "gram" - which ranks higher?
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 "grain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gram" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #260,800 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grain" and "gram" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Graeme vs gram". 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 #260,800 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.