Which to use
“grèves” and “guêpes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,333
- “grèves” frequency rank
- #27,830
- “guêpes” frequency rank
- 38163
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grèves | guêpes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de grève. | Pluriel de guêpe. |
Where the eye mixes grèves and guêpes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. grèves (CCVCVC) and guêpes (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses grèves with guêpes
A purely visual mix-up. grèves (\ɡʁɛv\) and guêpes (\ɡɛp\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grèves is recorded at frequency rank #10,333, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɛv\. guêpes is at rank #27,830, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡɛp\.
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 38163, this pair ranks #257,218 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grèves vs guêpes
Shared letters: egs. Private to "grèves": rvè. Private to "guêpes": puê.
"grèves" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "guêpes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "grèves" for "guêpes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "grèves" or "guêpes"?
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 "grèves" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "guêpes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #257,218 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grèves" and "guêpes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "guêpes vs guéret". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #257,218 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.