elevsélireWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ele is a noun, élire is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ele” is a noun and “élire” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,239
“ele” frequency rank
#7,392
“élire” frequency rank
47631
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ele élire
Definition Parole, discours, propos. Choisir entre plusieurs personnes ou plusieurs choses.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ele and élire apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ele
5 ch
élire

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ele is anoun and élireaverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ele is recorded at frequency rank #40,239, classified as anoun. élire is at rank #7,392, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.liʁ\.

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 47631, this pair ranks #185,419 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ele vs élire

Shared letters: el. Private to "ele": -. Private to "élire": iré.

"ele" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "élire" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequency comparison

ele#40,239
élire#7,392

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ele" and "élire" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ele" is a noun and "élire" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ele" or "élire"?
"élire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,392 in our French list, against #40,239 for "ele". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ele vs élire

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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