Which to use
“gratte” is a noun and “gratter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,013
- “gratte” frequency rank
- #12,587
- “gratter” frequency rank
- 21600
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gratte | gratter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | De la ciguatera, un empoisonnement banal par la consommation de certains poissons des récifs tropicaux et lagons. | Racler pour nettoyer, pour effacer ou pour polir. |
Where the eye mixes gratte and gratter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gratte vs gratter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gratte is \ɡʁat\ while gratter is \ɡʁa.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “gratte” sits inside “gratter”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gratte is recorded at frequency rank #9,013, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁat\. gratter is at rank #12,587, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɡʁa.te\.
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 21600, this pair ranks #362,341 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gratte vs gratter
Shared letters: aegrt. Private to "gratte": -. Private to "gratter": -.
"gratte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "gratter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gratte" for "gratter" ever safe?
Which is more common, "gratte" or "gratter"?
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 "gratte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gratter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,341 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gratte" and "gratter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gratter 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 #362,341 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.