Which to use
“écoule” and “écoutée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,596
- “écoule” frequency rank
- #25,175
- “écoutée” frequency rank
- 42771
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écoule | écoutée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de écouler. | Participe passé féminin singulier de écouter. |
Where the eye mixes écoule and écoutée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. écoule runs 6 letters (VCVVCV) against écoutée's 7 (VCVVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses écoule with écoutée
A purely visual mix-up. écoule (\e.kul\) and écoutée (\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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écoule is recorded at frequency rank #17,596, classified as averb, pronounced \e.kul\. écoutée is at rank #25,175, 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 42771, this pair ranks #223,066 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of écoule vs écoutée
Shared letters: ceoué. Private to "écoule": l. Private to "écoutée": t.
"écoule" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "écoutée" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "écoule" and "écoutée" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "écoule" or "écoutée" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "écoule" and "écoutée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "écoule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écoutée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #223,066 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écoule" and "écoutée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échouée vs écoutée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #223,066 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.