Which to use
“échoue” and “échouer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,092
- “échoue” frequency rank
- #12,699
- “échouer” frequency rank
- 25791
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | échoue | échouer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de échouer. | Donner sur le sable, sur un écueil et y stationner plus ou moins longtemps, en parlant d’une embarcation voire d’un cétacé ou de poissons. |
Where the eye mixes échoue and échouer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. échoue runs 6 letters (VCCVVV) against échouer's 7 (VCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between échoue and échouer
A purely visual mix-up. échoue (\e.ʃu\) and échouer (\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 extra letter(s) - “échoue” sits inside “échouer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25791, 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\. échouer is at rank #12,699, 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 25791, this pair ranks #338,829 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of échoue vs échouer
Shared letters: cehoué. Private to "échoue": -. Private to "échouer": r.
"échoue" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV · "échouer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "échoue" and "échouer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "échoue" vs "échouer" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "échoue" and "échouer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "échoue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "échouer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #338,829 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "échoue" and "échouer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échoue vs échouée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #338,829 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.