échouéevséchouerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,277
“échouée” frequency rank
#12,699
“échouer” frequency rank
60976
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature échouée échouer
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier 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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set échouée and échouer apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
échouée
7 ch
échouer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. échouée and échouer are pronounced identically (\e.ʃwe\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

échouée is recorded at frequency rank #48,277, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ʃwe\. 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 60976, this pair ranks #94,767 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of échouée vs échouer

Shared letters: cehoué. Private to "échouée": -. Private to "échouer": r.

"échouée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVV  ·  "échouer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC

Frequency comparison

échouée#48,277
échouer#12,699

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "échouée" and "échouer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\e.ʃwe\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "échouée" or "échouer"?
"échouer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,699 in our French list, against #48,277 for "échouée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering échouée vs échouer

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 “échouée” 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