Which to use
“grain” and “grip” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,620
- “grain” frequency rank
- #46,198
- “grip” frequency rank
- 52818
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grain | grip |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fruit et semence des céréales contenu dans l’épi. | Mâchoires métalliques destinées à saisir les câbles de traction des funiculaires et tramways guidés par câble. |
Where the eye mixes grain and grip
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. grain runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against grip's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: grain vs grip
A purely visual mix-up. grain (\ɡʁɛ̃\) and grip (\ɡʁip\) 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 52818, 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\. grip is at rank #46,198, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁip\.
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 52818, this pair ranks #145,061 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grain vs grip
Shared letters: gir. Private to "grain": an. Private to "grip": p.
"grain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "grip" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "grain" for "grip" ever safe?
Which is more common, "grain" or "grip"?
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 "grip" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #145,061 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grain" and "grip" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grip 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 #145,061 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.