Which to use
“écus” is a noun and “élus” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,086
- “écus” frequency rank
- #1,983
- “élus” frequency rank
- 35069
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écus | élus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de écu. | Masculin pluriel de élu. |
Where the eye mixes écus and élus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses écus with élus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: écus is \e.ky\ while élus is \e.ly\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “écus” becomes l in “élus”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35069, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écus is recorded at frequency rank #33,086, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.ky\. élus is at rank #1,983, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.ly\.
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 35069, this pair ranks #279,428 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of écus vs élus
Shared letters: sué. Private to "écus": c. Private to "élus": l.
"écus" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "élus" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "écus" for "élus" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "écus" or "élus" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "écus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "élus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #279,428 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écus" and "élus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écus vs étuis". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #279,428 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.