éluevsélusWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: élue is a noun, élus is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“élue” is a noun and “élus” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,453
“élue” frequency rank
#1,983
“élus” frequency rank
8436
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature élue élus
Definition Femme élue. Masculin pluriel de élu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set élue and élus apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
élue
4 ch
élus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: élue and élus carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.ly\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - e in “élue” becomes s in “élus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

élue is recorded at frequency rank #6,453, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.ly\. élus is at rank #1,983, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.ly\.

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 8436, this pair ranks #420,042 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of élue vs élus

Shared letters: lué. Private to "élue": e. Private to "élus": s.

"élue" · 4 letters · shape VCVV  ·  "élus" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Frequency comparison

élue#6,453
élus#1,983

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "élue" and "élus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "élue" is a noun and "élus" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "élue" or "élus"?
"élus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,983 in our French list, against #6,453 for "élue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering élue vs élus

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “élue”; for an adjective, it's “élus”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “élue” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list