Which to use
“él” is a pronoun and “ex” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #142
- “él” frequency rank
- #743
- “ex” frequency rank
- 885
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | él | ex |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativo y preposicional del pronombre personal de la tercera persona del singular en el género masculino. | Que ya ha finalizado el estado al que hace referencia. |
Where the eye mixes él and ex
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. No shared run - shape, not overlap, is the trap.
Visual trap between él and ex
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: él is [ˈel] while ex is [ˈeks]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
él is recorded at frequency rank #142, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈel]. ex is at rank #743, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeks].
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 885, this pair ranks #322,838 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of él vs ex
Shared letters: none. Private to "él": lé. Private to "ex": ex.
"él" · 2 letters · shape VC · "ex" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "él" and "ex" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "él" vs "ex" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "él" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ex" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #322,838 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "él" and "ex" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "EPL vs ex". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #322,838 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.