ekvseleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ek is a pronoun, ele is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ek” is a pronoun and “ele” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,574
“ek” frequency rank
#28,351
“ele” frequency rank
65925
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ek ele
Definition Yo. Nombre de la letra L (duodécima letra del alfabeto).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ek and ele apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch
ek
3 ch
ele

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ek is [ɛk] while ele is [ˈele]. 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 (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65925, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ek is recorded at frequency rank #37,574, classified as apron, pronounced [ɛk]. ele is at rank #28,351, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈele].

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 65925, this pair ranks #41,270 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ek vs ele

Shared letters: e. Private to "ek": k. Private to "ele": l.

"ek" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "ele" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

ek#37,574
ele#28,351

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ek" and "ele" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ek" is a pronoun and "ele" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ek" or "ele"?
"ele" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,351 in our Spanish list, against #37,574 for "ek". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ek vs ele

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “ek”; for a noun, it's “ele”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ek” 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