grauvsgroupConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#41,808
“grau” frequency rank
#6,196
“group” frequency rank
48004
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grau group
Definition Chenal qui relie une étendue d’eau à la mer. Groupe.

Where the eye mixes grau and group

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
grau
5 ch
group

Look-alike desk: grau vs group

A purely visual mix-up. grau (\ɡʁo\) and group (\ɡɹuːp\) 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 48004, 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\. group is at rank #6,196, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡɹuːp\.

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 48004, this pair ranks #182,413 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grau vs group

Shared letters: gru. Private to "grau": a. Private to "group": op.

"grau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "group" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • graugaru · ggrau · grrau · grua · rgau
  • groupggroup · gorup · gropu · groupp · grroup · gruop · rgoup

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grau" and "group" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡʁo\ versus \ɡɹuːp\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "grau" or "group" show up more?
"group" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,196 in our French list, against #41,808 for "grau". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "group" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #182,413 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grau" and "group" 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 #182,413 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