Which to use
“échoue” and “échouent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,092
- “échoue” frequency rank
- #24,449
- “échouent” frequency rank
- 37541
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | échoue | échouent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de échouer. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de échouer. |
Same sound, different letters: échoue vs échouent
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. échoue runs 6 letters (VCCVVV) against échouent's 8 (VCCVVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - échoue and échouent
This is the hard kind. échoue and échouent are pronounced identically (\e.ʃu\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “échoue” sits inside “échouent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37541, 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\. échouent is at rank #24,449, 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 37541, this pair ranks #261,768 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of échoue vs échouent
Shared letters: cehoué. Private to "échoue": -. Private to "échouent": nt.
"échoue" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV · "échouent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "échoue" and "échouent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "échoue" or "échouent" show up more?
After this comparison
"échoue" and "échouent" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "échoue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "échouent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #261,768 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "échoue" and "échouent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échouée vs échouent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #261,768 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.