Which to use
“échoua” and “échoués” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,084
- “échoua” frequency rank
- #47,113
- “échoués” frequency rank
- 88197
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | échoua | échoués |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de échouer. | Participe passé masculin pluriel de échouer. |
Where the eye mixes échoua and échoués
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. échoua runs 6 letters (VCCVVV) against échoués's 7 (VCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses échoua with échoués
A purely visual mix-up. échoua (\e.ʃwa\) and échoués (\e.ʃwe\) 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 88197, 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\. échoués is at rank #47,113, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ʃwe\.
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 88197, this pair ranks #7,289 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of échoua vs échoués
Shared letters: choué. Private to "échoua": a. Private to "échoués": s.
"échoua" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV · "échoués" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "échoua" and "échoués" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "échoua" vs "échoués" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "échoua" and "échoués" 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 "échoués" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,289 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "échoua" and "échoués" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échouée vs échoués". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #7,289 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.