elijovselloWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: elijo is a verb, ello is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“elijo” is a verb and “ello” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,840
“elijo” frequency rank
#400
“ello” frequency rank
16240
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature elijo ello
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de elegir. Nominativo del pronombre personal de tercera persona en género neutro. Con preposición, empléase también en el caso oblicuo (o preposicional).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set elijo and ello apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
elijo
4 ch
ello

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: elijo is [eˈlixo] while ello is [ˈeʝo]. 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 (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

elijo is recorded at frequency rank #15,840, classified as averb, pronounced [eˈlixo]. ello is at rank #400, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈeʝo].

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 16240, this pair ranks #276,963 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of elijo vs ello

Shared letters: elo. Private to "elijo": ij. Private to "ello": -.

"elijo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ello" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • elijoeiljo · elijjo · elioj · eljio · ellijo · leijo
  • elloelol · lelo

Frequency comparison

elijo#15,840
ello#400

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "elijo" and "ello" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "elijo" is a verb and "ello" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "elijo" or "ello"?
"ello" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #400 in our Spanish list, against #15,840 for "elijo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering elijo vs ello

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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