Which to use
“échoue” and “écroué” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,092
- “échoue” frequency rank
- #42,699
- “écroué” frequency rank
- 55791
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | échoue | écroué |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de échouer. | Participe passé masculin singulier de écrouer. |
Where the eye mixes échoue and écroué
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. échoue and écroué follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses échoue with écroué
A purely visual mix-up. échoue (\e.ʃu\) and écroué (\e.kʁu.e\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55791, 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\. écroué is at rank #42,699, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.kʁu.e\.
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 55791, this pair ranks #125,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of échoue vs écroué
Shared letters: coué. Private to "échoue": eh. Private to "écroué": r.
"échoue" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV · "écroué" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "échoue" and "écroué" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "échoue" or "écroué"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "échoue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écroué" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #125,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "échoue" and "écroué" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échouée vs écroué". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #125,223 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.