grandsvsgratisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: grands is a adjective, gratis is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“grands” is an adjective and “gratis” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#477
“grands” frequency rank
#20,748
“gratis” frequency rank
21225
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grands gratis
Definition Masculin pluriel de grand. Sans qu’il en coûte rien, gratuitement.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set grands and gratis apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
grands
6 ch
gratis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

grands and gratis form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grands is recorded at frequency rank #477, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɡʁɑ̃\. gratis is at rank #20,748, tagged as anadv, pronounced \ɡʁa.tis\.

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 21225, this pair ranks #364,268 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

grands#477
gratis#20,748

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grands" and "gratis" be used interchangeably?
No, "grands" and "gratis" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering grands vs gratis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “grands”; for an adverb, it's “gratis”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “grands” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list