groupsvsgruesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,369
“groups” frequency rank
#24,989
“grues” frequency rank
67358
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature groups grues
Definition Pluriel de group. Pluriel de grue.

Where the eye mixes groups and grues

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
groups
5 ch
grues

Look-alike desk: groups vs grues

A purely visual mix-up. groups (\ɡʁup\) and grues (\ɡʁy\) 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 67358, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

groups is recorded at frequency rank #42,369, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁup\. grues is at rank #24,989, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁy\.

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 67358, this pair ranks #63,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of groups vs grues

Shared letters: grsu. Private to "groups": op. Private to "grues": e.

"groups" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC  ·  "grues" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • groupsggroups · gorups · gropus · groupps · groupss · grousp · grroups · gruops
  • gruesggrues · greus · grrues · gruess · gruse · gures · rgues

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "groups" and "grues" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡʁup\ versus \ɡʁy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "groups" vs "grues" - which ranks higher?
"grues" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,989 in our French list, against #42,369 for "groups". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "groups" and "grues" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "groups" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #63,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "groups" and "grues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "groupée vs groups". 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 #63,770 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