Which to use
“échouent” and “échouer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,449
- “échouent” frequency rank
- #12,699
- “échouer” frequency rank
- 37148
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | échouent | échouer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel 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 échouent and échouer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. échouent runs 8 letters (VCCVVVCC) against échouer's 7 (VCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: échouent vs échouer
A purely visual mix-up. échouent (\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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
échouent is recorded at frequency rank #24,449, 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 37148, this pair ranks #264,553 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of échouent vs échouer
Shared letters: cehoué. Private to "échouent": nt. Private to "échouer": r.
"échouent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVVCC · "échouer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "échouent" for "échouer" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "échouent" or "échouer" show up more?
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 "échouent" 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 #264,553 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "échouent" and "échouer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échouée vs échouent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #264,553 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.