Which to use
“écoulées” is an adjective and “écouler” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,932
- “écoulées” frequency rank
- #15,783
- “écouler” frequency rank
- 42715
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écoulées | écouler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de écoulé. | Vendre jusqu'a épuisement ; liquider. |
Same sound, different letters: écoulées vs écouler
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. écoulées runs 8 letters (VCVVCVVC) against écouler's 7 (VCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - écoulées / écouler
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: écoulées and écouler carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.ku.le\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42715, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écoulées is recorded at frequency rank #26,932, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.ku.le\. écouler is at rank #15,783, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ku.le\.
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 42715, this pair ranks #223,510 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of écoulées vs écouler
Shared letters: celoué. Private to "écoulées": s. Private to "écouler": r.
"écoulées" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCVVC · "écouler" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "écoulées" and "écouler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "écoulées" or "écouler"?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "écoulées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écouler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #223,510 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écoulées" and "écouler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écoulées vs écoutées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #223,510 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.