grattevsgravitéWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“gratte” and “gravité” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,013
“gratte” frequency rank
#5,138
“gravité” frequency rank
14151
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gratte gravité
Definition De la ciguatera, un empoisonnement banal par la consommation de certains poissons des récifs tropicaux et lagons. Champ de force gravitationnel d’un corps massif ; pesanteur.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
gratte
7 ch
gravité

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gratte (\ɡʁat\) and gravité (\ɡʁa.vi.te\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14151, 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\. gravité is at rank #5,138, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁa.vi.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 14151, this pair ranks #397,969 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gratte vs gravité

Shared letters: agrt. Private to "gratte": e. Private to "gravité": ivé.

"gratte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "gravité" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grattegartte · ggratte · grate · gratet · grratte · grtate · rgatte

Frequency comparison

gratte#9,013
gravité#5,138

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gratte" and "gravité" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡʁat\ versus \ɡʁa.vi.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gratte" or "gravité"?
"gravité" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,138 in our French list, against #9,013 for "gratte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gratte vs gravité

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gratte” 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