Which to use
“gratter” and “graver” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,587
- “gratter” frequency rank
- #21,957
- “graver” frequency rank
- 34544
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gratter | graver |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Racler pour nettoyer, pour effacer ou pour polir. | Tracer quelque trait, quelque figure avec le burin, avec le ciseau, sur du bois, sur du cuivre, sur du marbre, etc. |
Where the eye mixes gratter and graver
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gratter runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against graver's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses gratter with graver
A purely visual mix-up. gratter (\ɡʁa.te\) and graver (\ɡʁa.ve\) 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 34544, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gratter is recorded at frequency rank #12,587, classified as averb, pronounced \ɡʁa.te\. graver is at rank #21,957, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɡʁa.ve\.
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 34544, this pair ranks #283,065 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gratter vs graver
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "gratter": t. Private to "graver": v.
"gratter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "graver" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gratter" and "graver" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "gratter" or "graver" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "gratter" and "graver" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gratter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "graver" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #283,065 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gratter" and "graver" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graver vs Gruber". 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 #283,065 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.