échouevséchouésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,092
“échoue” frequency rank
#47,113
“échoués” frequency rank
60205
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature échoue échoués
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de échouer. Participe passé masculin pluriel de échouer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set échoue and échoués apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
échoue
7 ch
échoués

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. échoue (\e.ʃu\) 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 60205, 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\. 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 60205, this pair ranks #98,881 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of échoue vs échoués

Shared letters: choué. Private to "échoue": e. Private to "échoués": s.

"échoue" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV  ·  "échoués" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC

Frequency comparison

échoue#13,092
échoués#47,113

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "échoue" and "échoués" 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 "échoués"?
"échoue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,092 in our French list, against #47,113 for "échoués". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering échoue vs échoués

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