Which to use
“échouent” and “écoulent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,449
- “échouent” frequency rank
- #38,112
- “écoulent” frequency rank
- 62561
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | échouent | écoulent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de échouer. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de écouler. |
Where the eye mixes échouent and écoulent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. échouent (VCCVVVCC) and écoulent (VCVVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between échouent and écoulent
A purely visual mix-up. échouent (\e.ʃu\) and écoulent (\e.kul\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62561, 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\. écoulent is at rank #38,112, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.kul\.
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 62561, this pair ranks #86,448 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of échouent vs écoulent
Shared letters: cenotué. Private to "échouent": h. Private to "écoulent": l.
"échouent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVVCC · "écoulent" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "échouent" and "écoulent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "échouent" vs "écoulent" - which ranks higher?
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 "écoulent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86,448 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "échouent" and "écoulent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écoulent vs épousent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #86,448 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.