Which to use
“grau” and “grès” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,808
- “grau” frequency rank
- #12,976
- “grès” frequency rank
- 54784
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grau | grès |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chenal qui relie une étendue d’eau à la mer. | Roche détritique formée par l’agglomération de nombreux petits grains unis par un ciment naturel de composition variable (siliceux, calcaire, etc.). |
Where the eye mixes grau and grès
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between grau and grès
A purely visual mix-up. grau (\ɡʁo\) and grès (\ɡʁɛ\) 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 54784, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grau is recorded at frequency rank #41,808, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁo\. grès is at rank #12,976, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɛ\.
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 54784, this pair ranks #131,694 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grau vs grès
Shared letters: gr. Private to "grau": au. Private to "grès": sè.
"grau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "grès" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- grau ← garu · ggrau · grrau · grua · rgau
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "grau" and "grès" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "grau" vs "grès" - which ranks higher?
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 "grau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grès" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #131,694 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grau" and "grès" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grau vs grow". 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 #131,694 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.