ÉbolavsellaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Ébola is a name, ella is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ébola” is a name and “ella” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,519
“Ébola” frequency rank
#144
“ella” frequency rank
15663
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ébola ella
Definition (Ebolavirus) Virus causante de una enfermedad infecciosa, caracterizada por fiebre hemorrágica, que es altamente contagiosa y muy severa, afectatando a todo tipo de primates, incluidos los seres humanos y a otros mamíferos. Nominativo y preposicional del pronombre personal de la tercera persona del singular en el género femenino. Con preposición empléase también en los casos oblicuos.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Ébola and ella apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Ébola
4 ch
ella

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ébola is [ˈeβ̞ola] while ella is [ˈeʝa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ébola is recorded at frequency rank #15,519, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈeβ̞ola]. ella is at rank #144, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈeʝa].

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 15663, this pair ranks #279,248 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ébola vs ella

Shared letters: al. Private to "Ébola": boé. Private to "ella": e.

"Ébola" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ella" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ellaelal · lela

Frequency comparison

Ébola#15,519
ella#144

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ébola" and "ella" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ébola" is a name and "ella" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ébola" or "ella"?
"ella" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #144 in our Spanish list, against #15,519 for "Ébola". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Ébola vs ella

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Ébola”; for a pronoun, it's “ella”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Ébola” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list