Which to use
“grave” is an adjective and “gravité” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #965
- “grave” frequency rank
- #5,138
- “gravité” frequency rank
- 6103
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grave | gravité |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui peut avoir des conséquences fâcheuses, profondes. | Champ de force gravitationnel d’un corps massif ; pesanteur. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set grave and gravité apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grave is \ɡʁav\ while gravité is \ɡʁa.vi.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grave is recorded at frequency rank #965, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɡʁav\. gravité is at rank #5,138, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁa.vi.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 6103, this pair ranks #427,165 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of grave vs gravité
Shared letters: agrv. Private to "grave": e. Private to "gravité": ité.
"grave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "gravité" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- grave ← garve · ggrave · graev · gravve · grrave · grvae · rgave
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grave" and "gravité" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "grave" or "gravité"?
Remembering grave vs gravité
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “grave”; for a noun, it's “gravité”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “grave” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable