Which to use
“grains” and “graisse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,859
- “grains” frequency rank
- #9,012
- “graisse” frequency rank
- 17871
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grains | graisse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de grain. | Substance onctueuse, de peu de consistance et fondant facilement, dite en chimie corps gras et répandue en diverses parties du corps de l’homme ou de l’animal. |
Where the eye mixes grains and graisse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses grains with graisse
A purely visual mix-up. grains (\ɡʁɛ̃\) and graisse (\ɡʁɛs\) 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 17871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grains is recorded at frequency rank #8,859, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɛ̃\. graisse is at rank #9,012, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɛs\.
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 17871, this pair ranks #381,050 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of grains vs graisse
Shared letters: agirs. Private to "grains": n. Private to "graisse": e.
"grains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "graisse" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grains" and "graisse" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "grains" vs "graisse" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "grains" and "graisse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "grains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "graisse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #381,050 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grains" and "graisse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graisse vs graisser". 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 #381,050 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.