elle

\ɛl\

/\ɛl\/ pron

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“elle” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #41) as a pronoun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#41
frequency rank, French
3,255
“E” headwords
2
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pronom clitique de la troisième personne du singulier féminin sujet.

Corpus desk

Index FR-elle · elle · French

elle · rank #41 · 2 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #41
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 2 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,255
  • PHOTO-FINISH tu

Nearest frequency peer: tu (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “elle”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “elle” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

elle vs été
0% similar
elle vs élu
25% similar
elle vs eve
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for elle
PropertyValue
Headwordelle
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPronoun
IPA\ɛl\
Letters4
Frequency rank#41
Misspellings tracked2
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “elle” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). elle lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for elle is neighbouring look-alikes ("été", "élu", …), not just typos; it is apronoun pronounced \ɛl\. Frequency #41 among 3,255 “E” headwords. Gloss: "Pronom clitique de la troisième personne du singulier féminin sujet.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 2 likely wrong-spelling variants for elle, including "elel" and "lele". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "été", "élu", "eve", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is elle, spelled E-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pronom clitique de la troisième personne du singulier féminin sujet.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how elle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Elle était demeurée longtemps debout devant ces hautes coques dont les hublots laissaient voir l’intérieur des cabines éclairées.
  2. Rosebud se cherche toujours. Elle ne sait pas exactement ce qu’elle veut, mais elle sait très bien ce qu’elle refuse : retourner à Aix et devenir la parfaite épouse d’un pinardier.

This word in other languages

she(English)ella(Español)sie(Deutsch)ela(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • elel
  • lele

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of elle - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

elel2lele2
Edit distance from "elle"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "elle"?
"elle" is spelled E-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛl\.
What does "elle" mean?
As a pronoun, "elle" means: Pronom clitique de la troisième personne du singulier féminin sujet.
What words are commonly confused with "elle"?
"elle" is commonly confused with "été", "élu", "eve". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "elle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "elle" is \ɛl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "elle" come from?
"elle" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "elle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

vous#37sont#47tout#48fait#49

What to do next

You've looked up "elle". Here's where to go from here.

  • "elle" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "été". View pair
  • 2 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #41 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "E" letter cohort. E–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list