Which to use
“écoutent” and “écoutez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,887
- “écoutent” frequency rank
- #5,717
- “écoutez” frequency rank
- 17604
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écoutent | écoutez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de écouter. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de écouter. |
Where the eye mixes écoutent and écoutez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: écoutent vs écoutez
A purely visual mix-up. écoutent (\e.kut\) and écoutez (\e.ku.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17604, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écoutent is recorded at frequency rank #11,887, classified as averb, pronounced \e.kut\. 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 17604, this pair ranks #382,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of écoutent vs écoutez
Shared letters: ceotué. Private to "écoutent": n. Private to "écoutez": z.
"écoutent" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCVCC · "écoutez" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "écoutent" for "écoutez" ever safe?
Which is more common, "écoutent" or "écoutez"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "écoutent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écoutez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #382,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écoutent" and "écoutez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écoutent vs épousent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #382,368 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.