échouevséchouéeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“échoue” and “échouée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,092
“échoue” frequency rank
#48,277
“échouée” frequency rank
61369
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature échoue échouée
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de échouer. Participe passé féminin singulier de échouer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set échoue and échouée apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
échoue
7 ch
échouée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. échoue (\e.ʃu\) and échouée (\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 61369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

échoue is recorded at frequency rank #13,092, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ʃu\. échouée is at rank #48,277, 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 61369, this pair ranks #92,647 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of échoue vs échouée

Shared letters: cehoué. Private to "échoue": -. Private to "échouée": -.

"échoue" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV  ·  "échouée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVV

Frequency comparison

échoue#13,092
échouée#48,277

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "échoue" and "échouée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.ʃu\ versus \e.ʃwe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "échoue" or "échouée"?
"échoue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,092 in our French list, against #48,277 for "échouée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering échoue vs échouée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “échoue” 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