grossivsgrossirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,287
“grossi” frequency rank
#12,790
“grossir” frequency rank
35077
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grossi grossir
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe grossir. Rendre gros, plus ample, plus volumineux.

Where the eye mixes grossi and grossir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. grossi runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against grossir's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
grossi
7 ch
grossir

Why the eye confuses grossi with grossir

A purely visual mix-up. grossi (\ɡʁo.si\) and grossir (\ɡʁɔ.siʁ\) 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) - “grossi” sits inside “grossir”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35077, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grossi is recorded at frequency rank #22,287, classified as averb, pronounced \ɡʁo.si\. grossir is at rank #12,790, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɡʁɔ.siʁ\.

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 35077, this pair ranks #279,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grossi vs grossir

Shared letters: giors. Private to "grossi": -. Private to "grossir": -.

"grossi" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "grossir" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grossi ← ggrossi · gorssi · grosi · grosis · grrossi · grsosi · rgossi
  • grossir ← ggrossir · gorssir · grosir · grosisr · grossirr · grossri · grrossir · grsosir

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "grossi" and "grossir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɡʁo.si\ versus \ɡʁɔ.siʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "grossi" or "grossir"?
"grossir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,790 in our French list, against #22,287 for "grossi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "grossi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grossir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #279,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grossi" and "grossir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grossi vs grossis". 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 #279,368 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