Which to use
“gran” and “grau” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,497
- “gran” frequency rank
- #41,808
- “grau” frequency rank
- 60305
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gran | grau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mamie, grand-mère. | Chenal qui relie une étendue d’eau à la mer. |
Where the eye mixes gran and grau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. gran (CCVC) and grau (CCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses gran with grau
A purely visual mix-up. gran (\ɡræn\) and grau (\ɡʁo\) 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 a single letter - n in “gran” becomes u in “grau”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60305, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gran is recorded at frequency rank #18,497, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡræn\. grau is at rank #41,808, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁo\.
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 60305, this pair ranks #98,307 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of gran vs grau
Shared letters: agr. Private to "gran": n. Private to "grau": u.
"gran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "grau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gran" and "grau" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "gran" or "grau"?
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 "gran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #98,307 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gran" and "grau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grau vs grow". 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 #98,307 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.