Which to use
“élec” is a noun and “elles” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,965
- “élec” frequency rank
- #176
- “elles” frequency rank
- 46141
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | élec | elles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Électricité. | Pronom clitique de la troisième personne du pluriel féminin sujet, pour parler d’un groupe de femmes, d’animaux ou de choses grammaticalement féminines. |
Where the eye mixes élec and elles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. élec runs 4 letters (VCVC) against elles's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: élec vs elles
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: élec is \e.lɛk\ while elles is \ɛl\. 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 (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
élec is recorded at frequency rank #45,965, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.lɛk\. elles is at rank #176, tagged as apron, 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 46141, this pair ranks #197,288 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of élec vs elles
Shared letters: el. Private to "élec": cé. Private to "elles": s.
"élec" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "elles" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- elles ← elels · eles · elless · ellse · leles
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "élec" for "elles" ever safe?
Which is more common, "élec" or "elles"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "élec" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "elles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #197,288 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "élec" and "elles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "élec vs ell". 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 #197,288 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.