Which to use
“élève” is a noun and “enlève” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,796
- “élève” frequency rank
- #4,573
- “enlève” frequency rank
- 6369
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | élève | enlève |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personne qui reçoit ou qui a reçu l'enseignement de quelqu'un autre. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de enlever. |
Where the eye mixes élève and enlève
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. élève runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against enlève's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: élève vs enlève
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: élève is \e.lɛv\ while enlève is \ɑ̃.lɛv\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
élève is recorded at frequency rank #1,796, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.lɛv\. enlève is at rank #4,573, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.lɛv\.
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 6369, this pair ranks #426,439 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of élève vs enlève
Shared letters: elvè. Private to "élève": é. Private to "enlève": n.
"élève" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "enlève" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "élève" for "enlève" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "élève" or "enlève" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "élève" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enlève" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #426,439 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "élève" and "enlève" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enlève vs entêté". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #426,439 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.