Which to use
“échoue” is a verb and “enjoué” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,092
- “échoue” frequency rank
- #39,281
- “enjoué” frequency rank
- 52373
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | échoue | enjoué |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de échouer. | Qui a de l’enjouement. |
Where the eye mixes échoue and enjoué
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. échoue and enjoué 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 enjoué
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: échoue is \e.ʃu\ while enjoué is \ɑ̃.ʒwe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52373, 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\. enjoué is at rank #39,281, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.ʒwe\.
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 52373, this pair ranks #148,177 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of échoue vs enjoué
Shared letters: eoué. Private to "échoue": ch. Private to "enjoué": jn.
"échoue" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV · "enjoué" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "échoue" for "enjoué" ever safe?
Which is more common, "échoue" or "enjoué"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "échoue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enjoué" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #148,177 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "échoue" and "enjoué" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enjoué vs enjouée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #148,177 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.