Which to use
“écluse” is a noun and “écoule” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,608
- “écluse” frequency rank
- #17,596
- “écoule” frequency rank
- 47204
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écluse | écoule |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clôture en forme de bassin, faite de terre, de pierre, de bois ou de toute autre matière dans un port, sur une rivière, sur un canal, etc., ayant une ou plusieurs portes qui se lèvent et se baissent ou qui s’ouvrent et se ferment, pour retenir et pour laisser passer l’eau. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de écouler. |
Where the eye mixes écluse and écoule
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. écluse (VCCVCV) and écoule (VCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between écluse and écoule
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: écluse is \e.klyz\ while écoule is \e.kul\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47204, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écluse is recorded at frequency rank #29,608, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.klyz\. écoule is at rank #17,596, 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 47204, this pair ranks #188,732 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of écluse vs écoule
Shared letters: celué. Private to "écluse": s. Private to "écoule": o.
"écluse" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "écoule" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "écluse" and "écoule" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "écluse" or "écoule"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "écluse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écoule" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #188,732 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écluse" and "écoule" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écœuré vs écluse". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #188,732 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.