Which to use
“échoua” and “échoue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,084
- “échoua” frequency rank
- #13,092
- “échoue” frequency rank
- 54176
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | échoua | échoue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de échouer. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de échouer. |
Where the eye mixes échoua and échoue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. échoua and échoue follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: échoua vs échoue
A purely visual mix-up. échoua (\e.ʃwa\) and échoue (\e.ʃu\) 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 a single letter - a in “échoua” becomes e in “échoue”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
échoua is recorded at frequency rank #41,084, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ʃwa\. échoue is at rank #13,092, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ʃu\.
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 54176, this pair ranks #135,734 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of échoua vs échoue
Shared letters: choué. Private to "échoua": a. Private to "échoue": e.
"échoua" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV · "échoue" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "échoua" and "échoue" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "échoua" or "échoue" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "échoua" and "échoue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "échoua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "échoue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,734 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "échoua" and "échoue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échoua vs échouée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #135,734 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.