Which to use
“ela” and “els” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,314
- “ela” frequency rank
- #33,668
- “els” frequency rank
- 80982
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ela | els |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Activité de loisir, amateur, loisir. | Pluriel de el. |
Where the eye mixes ela and els
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ela (VCV) and els (VCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: ela vs els
A purely visual mix-up. ela (\ˈɛla\) and els (\ɛl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “ela” becomes s in “els”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ela is recorded at frequency rank #47,314, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈɛla\. els is at rank #33,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛl\.
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 80982, this pair ranks #19,723 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ela vs els
Shared letters: el. Private to "ela": a. Private to "els": s.
"ela" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "els" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ela" for "els" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "ela" or "els" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ela" and "els" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "els" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #19,723 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ela" and "els" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ela vs EPO". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #19,723 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.