élitvsémisConfusable pair

Which to use

“élit” and “émis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,669
“élit” frequency rank
#6,454
“émis” frequency rank
34123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature élit émis
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de élire. Participe passé masculin de émettre.

Where the eye mixes élit and émis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
élit
4 ch
émis

Visual trap between élit and émis

A purely visual mix-up. élit (\e.li\) and émis (\e.mi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

élit is recorded at frequency rank #27,669, classified as averb, pronounced \e.li\. émis is at rank #6,454, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.mi\.

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 34123, this pair ranks #285,990 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of élit vs émis

Shared letters: . Private to "élit": lt. Private to "émis": ms.

"élit" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "émis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "élit" and "émis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\e.li\ versus \e.mi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "élit" or "émis"?
"émis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,454 in our French list, against #27,669 for "élit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "élit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "émis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #285,990 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "élit" and "émis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "edito vs élit". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #285,990 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list