Which to use
“écoule” is a verb and “épaule” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,596
- “écoule” frequency rank
- #4,542
- “épaule” frequency rank
- 22138
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écoule | épaule |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de écouler. | Partie du corps qui attache au cou l’articulation du bras chez l’être humain et du membre antérieur chez les quadrupèdes ; articulation qui relie l'arrière-bras au tronc. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set écoule and épaule apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
écoule and épaule form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22138, 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\. épaule is at rank #4,542, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pol\.
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 22138, this pair ranks #359,652 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "écoule" and "épaule" be used interchangeably?
Remembering écoule vs épaule
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “écoule”; for a noun, it's “épaule”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “écoule” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable