Which to use
“ellos” is a pronoun and “emos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #121
- “ellos” frequency rank
- #35,485
- “emos” frequency rank
- 35606
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ellos | emos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativo y dativo del pronombre personal de la tercera persona del plural. Con preposición, se emplea también en los casos oblicuos. | Forma del plural de emo. |
Where the eye mixes ellos and emos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ellos with emos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ellos is [ˈeʝos] while emos is [ˈemos]. 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 35606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ellos is recorded at frequency rank #121, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈeʝos]. emos is at rank #35,485, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈemos].
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 35606, this pair ranks #185,156 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ellos vs emos
Shared letters: eos. Private to "ellos": l. Private to "emos": m.
"ellos" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "emos" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ellos" and "emos" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ellos" or "emos" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ellos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "emos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #185,156 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ellos" and "emos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "emos vs eses". 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 #185,156 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.