Which to use
“écoule” is a verb and “écume” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,596
- “écoule” frequency rank
- #26,228
- “écume” frequency rank
- 43824
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écoule | écume |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de écouler. | Sorte de mousse blanchâtre qui se forme à la surface des liquides agités, chauffés, ou en fermentation. |
Where the eye mixes écoule and écume
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. écoule runs 6 letters (VCVVCV) against écume's 5 (VCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: écoule vs écume
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: écoule is \e.kul\ while écume is \e.kym\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43824, 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\. écume is at rank #26,228, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.kym\.
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 43824, this pair ranks #215,104 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of écoule vs écume
Shared letters: ceué. Private to "écoule": lo. Private to "écume": m.
"écoule" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "écume" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "écoule" and "écume" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "écoule" vs "écume" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "écoule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écume" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #215,104 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écoule" and "écume" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écœuré vs écume". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #215,104 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.