elevsElisConfusable pair

Quick tell: ele is a pronoun, Elis is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ele” is a pronoun and “Elis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38
“ele” frequency rank
#14,830
“Elis” frequency rank
14868
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ele Elis
Definition pronome pessoal da terceira pessoa do singular prenome feminino

Where the eye mixes ele and Elis

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

3 ch
ele
4 ch
Elis

Why the eye confuses ele with Elis

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ele is /ˈe.li/, /ˈe.lɪ/ while Elis is /e'lis/. 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 (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14868, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ele is recorded at frequency rank #38, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈe.li/, /ˈe.lɪ/. Elis is at rank #14,830, tagged as anoun, pronounced /e'lis/.

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 14868, this pair ranks #57,098 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ele vs Elis

Shared letters: el. Private to "ele": -. Private to "Elis": is.

"ele" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "Elis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Eliseils · eliss · ellis · elsi · leis

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ele" and "Elis" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ele" is a pronoun and "Elis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ele" or "Elis"?
"ele" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38 in our Portuguese list, against #14,830 for "Elis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ele" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Elis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,098 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ele" and "Elis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "elio vs Elis". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #57,098 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list