élit vs ext, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#27,669
“élit” frequency rank: #36,838
“ext” frequency rank: 64507
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	élit	ext
Definition	Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de élire.	Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’impératif présent de exen.

Where the eye mixes élit and ext

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch

élit

3 ch

ext

Why the eye confuses élit with ext

A purely visual mix-up. élit (\e.li\) and ext (\ɛkst\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64507, 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\. ext is at rank #36,838, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛkst\.

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 64507, this pair ranks #76,706 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of élit vs ext

Shared letters: t. Private to "élit": ilé. Private to "ext": ex.

"élit" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "ext" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "élit" for "ext" ever safe?

No. They are said differently (\e.li\ versus \ɛkst\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "élit" or "ext"?

"élit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,669 in our French list, against #36,838 for "ext". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

Full dictionary entry for "élit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "ext" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #76,706 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"élit" and "ext" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "émit vs ext". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #76,706 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.