gratuitvsgratuiteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,080
“gratuit” frequency rank
#4,337
“gratuite” frequency rank
6417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gratuit gratuite
Definition Que l’on donne librement sans obligation. Féminin singulier de gratuit.

Where the eye mixes gratuit and gratuite

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
gratuit
8 ch
gratuite

Look-alike desk: gratuit vs gratuite

A purely visual mix-up. gratuit (\ɡʁa.tɥi\) and gratuite (\ɡʁa.tɥit\) 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 extra letter(s) - “gratuit” sits inside “gratuite”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gratuit is recorded at frequency rank #2,080, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɡʁa.tɥi\. gratuite is at rank #4,337, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɡʁa.tɥit\.

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 6417, this pair ranks #426,281 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gratuit vs gratuite

Shared letters: agirtu. Private to "gratuit": -. Private to "gratuite": e.

"gratuit" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC  ·  "gratuite" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gratuitgartuit · ggratuit · gratiut · grattuit · gratuitt · gratuti · grautit · grratuit
  • gratuitegartuite · ggratuite · gratiute · grattuite · gratuiet · gratuitte · gratutie · grautite

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gratuit" and "gratuite" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡʁa.tɥi\ versus \ɡʁa.tɥit\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gratuit" vs "gratuite" - which ranks higher?
"gratuit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,080 in our French list, against #4,337 for "gratuite". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "gratuit" and "gratuite" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gratuit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gratuite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #426,281 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gratuit" and "gratuite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gratuit vs gravit". 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 #426,281 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list