Which to use
“écoute” and “égouts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,130
- “écoute” frequency rank
- #16,786
- “égouts” frequency rank
- 17916
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écoute | égouts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action d’écouter, ou (vieilli) de faire le guet. | Pluriel de égout. |
Where the eye mixes écoute and égouts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. écoute (VCVVCV) and égouts (VCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between écoute and égouts
A purely visual mix-up. écoute (\e.kut\) and égouts (\e.ɡu\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écoute is recorded at frequency rank #1,130, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.kut\. égouts is at rank #16,786, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.ɡu\.
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 17916, this pair ranks #380,840 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of écoute vs égouts
Shared letters: otué. Private to "écoute": ce. Private to "égouts": gs.
"écoute" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "égouts" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "écoute" and "égouts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "écoute" vs "égouts" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "écoute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "égouts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #380,840 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écoute" and "égouts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échouée vs écoute". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #380,840 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.