Which to use
“échouer” and “écouter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,699
- “échouer” frequency rank
- #1,646
- “écouter” frequency rank
- 14345
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | échouer | écouter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Faire attention, prêter l’oreille pour entendre. |
Where the eye mixes échouer and écouter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: échouer vs écouter
A purely visual mix-up. échouer (\e.ʃwe\) and écouter (\e.ku.te\) 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 14345, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
échouer is recorded at frequency rank #12,699, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ʃwe\. écouter is at rank #1,646, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ku.te\.
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 14345, this pair ranks #397,098 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of échouer vs écouter
Shared letters: ceorué. Private to "échouer": h. Private to "écouter": t.
"échouer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC · "écouter" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "échouer" and "écouter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "échouer" or "écouter" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "échouer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écouter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #397,098 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "échouer" and "écouter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échouée vs échouer". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #397,098 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.