Which to use
“élève” is a noun and “enlèves” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,796
- “élève” frequency rank
- #26,352
- “enlèves” frequency rank
- 28148
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | élève | enlèves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personne qui reçoit ou qui a reçu l'enseignement de quelqu'un autre. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de enlever. |
Where the eye mixes élève and enlèves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. élève runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against enlèves's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: élève vs enlèves
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: élève is \e.lɛv\ while enlèves is \ɑ̃.lɛv\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 28148, 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\. enlèves is at rank #26,352, 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 28148, this pair ranks #324,619 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of élève vs enlèves
Shared letters: elvè. Private to "élève": é. Private to "enlèves": ns.
"élève" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "enlèves" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "élève" for "enlèves" ever safe?
Which is more common, "élève" or "enlèves"?
Useful next steps
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 "enlèves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #324,619 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "élève" and "enlèves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enleva vs enlèves". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #324,619 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.