Which to use
“graine” and “gratte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,419
- “graine” frequency rank
- #9,013
- “gratte” frequency rank
- 20432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | graine | gratte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Organe reproducteur des spermaphytes, formé par l’ovule fécondé et arrivé à maturité, contenant un embryon avec des réserves nutritives et protégé par un tégument. | De la ciguatera, un empoisonnement banal par la consommation de certains poissons des récifs tropicaux et lagons. |
Where the eye mixes graine and gratte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. graine (CCVVCV) and gratte (CCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: graine vs gratte
A purely visual mix-up. graine (\ɡʁɛn\) and gratte (\ɡʁat\) 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 20432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
graine is recorded at frequency rank #11,419, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɛn\. gratte is at rank #9,013, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁat\.
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 20432, this pair ranks #368,302 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of graine vs gratte
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "graine": in. Private to "gratte": t.
"graine" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "gratte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "graine" and "gratte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "graine" or "gratte" show up more?
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 "graine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gratte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #368,302 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "graine" and "gratte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Graeme vs graine". 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 #368,302 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.