écoutéevsécoutezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“écoutée” and “écoutez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#25,175
“écoutée” frequency rank
#5,717
“écoutez” frequency rank
30892
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature écoutée écoutez
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de écouter. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de écouter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set écoutée and écoutez apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
écoutée
7 ch
écoutez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. écoutée and écoutez are pronounced identically (\e.ku.te\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30892, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

écoutée is recorded at frequency rank #25,175, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ku.te\. écoutez is at rank #5,717, 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 30892, this pair ranks #307,344 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of écoutée vs écoutez

Shared letters: ceotué. Private to "écoutée": -. Private to "écoutez": z.

"écoutée" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVV  ·  "écoutez" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Frequency comparison

écoutée#25,175
écoutez#5,717

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "écoutée" and "écoutez" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\e.ku.te\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "écoutée" or "écoutez"?
"écoutez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,717 in our French list, against #25,175 for "écoutée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering écoutée vs écoutez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “écoutée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list