Which to use
“ell” is a pronoun and “els” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,057
- “ell” frequency rank
- #33,668
- “els” frequency rank
- 82725
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ell | els |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | il | Pluriel de el. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ell and els apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ell is \ˈeʎ\ while els is \ɛl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “ell” becomes s in “els”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82725, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ell is recorded at frequency rank #49,057, classified as apron, pronounced \ˈeʎ\. els is at rank #33,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛl\.
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 82725, this pair ranks #16,151 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ell vs els
Shared letters: el. Private to "ell": -. Private to "els": s.
"ell" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "els" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ell" and "els" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ell" or "els"?
Remembering ell vs els
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “ell”; for a noun, it's “els”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ell” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable