Which to use
“élèves” is a noun and “enlevée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,195
- “élèves” frequency rank
- #13,587
- “enlevée” frequency rank
- 14782
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | élèves | enlevée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de élève. | Féminin singulier de enlevé. |
Where the eye mixes élèves and enlevée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses élèves with enlevée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: élèves is \e.lɛv\ while enlevée is \ɑ̃.lə.ve\. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
élèves is recorded at frequency rank #1,195, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.lɛv\. enlevée is at rank #13,587, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.lə.ve\.
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 14782, this pair ranks #395,258 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of élèves vs enlevée
Shared letters: elvé. Private to "élèves": sè. Private to "enlevée": n.
"élèves" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "enlevée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "élèves" for "enlevée" ever safe?
Frequency check: "élèves" vs "enlevée" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "élèves" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enlevée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #395,258 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "élèves" and "enlevée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enleva vs enlevée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #395,258 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.