Which to use
“gratter” and “guetter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,587
- “gratter” frequency rank
- #35,531
- “guetter” frequency rank
- 48118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gratter | guetter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Racler pour nettoyer, pour effacer ou pour polir. | Épier, observer à dessein de surprendre. |
Where the eye mixes gratter and guetter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gratter (CCVCCVC) and guetter (CVVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses gratter with guetter
A purely visual mix-up. gratter (\ɡʁa.te\) and guetter (\ɡe.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48118, 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\. guetter is at rank #35,531, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɡe.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 48118, this pair ranks #181,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gratter vs guetter
Shared letters: egrt. Private to "gratter": a. Private to "guetter": u.
"gratter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "guetter" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gratter" and "guetter" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "gratter" or "guetter"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gratter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "guetter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #181,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gratter" and "guetter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "guetter vs Günther". 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 #181,476 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.