Which to use
“grains” and “gratin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,859
- “grains” frequency rank
- #21,028
- “gratin” frequency rank
- 29887
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grains | gratin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de grain. | Manière d’apprêter certains mets avec de la chapelure de pain, du fromage ou de la crème. |
Where the eye mixes grains and gratin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. grains (CCVVCC) and gratin (CCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses grains with gratin
A purely visual mix-up. grains (\ɡʁɛ̃\) and gratin (\ɡʁa.tɛ̃\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29887, 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\. gratin is at rank #21,028, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁa.tɛ̃\.
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 29887, this pair ranks #313,851 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grains vs gratin
Shared letters: aginr. Private to "grains": s. Private to "gratin": t.
"grains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "gratin" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "grains" and "gratin" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "grains" or "gratin" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "grains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gratin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,851 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grains" and "gratin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gratin vs gratton". 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 #313,851 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.