Which to use
“gram” is an onomatopoeia and “gris” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,051
- “gram” frequency rank
- #3,539
- “gris” frequency rank
- 34590
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gram | gris |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce mot n’a pas de sens précis et fait partie d’une comptine enfantine. | De couleur grise, entre le blanc et le noir. |
Where the eye mixes gram and gris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gram vs gris
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gram is \ɡʁam\ while gris is \ɡʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (onomatopoeia vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34590, 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\. gris is at rank #3,539, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɡʁi\.
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 34590, this pair ranks #282,750 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gram vs gris
Shared letters: gr. Private to "gram": am. Private to "gris": is.
"gram" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "gris" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gram" for "gris" ever safe?
Frequency check: "gram" vs "gris" - which ranks higher?
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 "gram" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #282,750 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gram" and "gris" 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 #282,750 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.