Which to use
“gram” is an onomatopoeia and “gran” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,051
- “gram” frequency rank
- #18,497
- “gran” frequency rank
- 49548
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gram | gran |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce mot n’a pas de sens précis et fait partie d’une comptine enfantine. | Mamie, grand-mère. |
Where the eye mixes gram and gran
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses gram with gran
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gram is \ɡʁam\ while gran is \ɡræn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “gram” becomes n in “gran”, and the parts of speech differ too (onomatopoeia vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gram is recorded at frequency rank #31,051, classified as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \ɡʁam\. gran is at rank #18,497, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡræn\.
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 49548, this pair ranks #169,733 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gram vs gran
Shared letters: agr. Private to "gram": m. Private to "gran": n.
"gram" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "gran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gram" and "gran" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "gram" vs "gran" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gram" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #169,733 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gram" and "gran" 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 #169,733 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.