Which to use
“écouter” and “escorter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,646
- “écouter” frequency rank
- #32,809
- “escorter” frequency rank
- 34455
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écouter | escorter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faire attention, prêter l’oreille pour entendre. | Accompagner pour protéger, défendre, surveiller ou honorer pendant la marche. |
Where the eye mixes écouter and escorter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between écouter and escorter
A purely visual mix-up. écouter (\e.ku.te\) and escorter (\ɛs.kɔʁ.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 34455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écouter is recorded at frequency rank #1,646, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ku.te\. escorter is at rank #32,809, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛs.kɔʁ.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 34455, this pair ranks #283,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of écouter vs escorter
Shared letters: ceort. Private to "écouter": ué. Private to "escorter": s.
"écouter" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC · "escorter" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- escorter ← ecsorter · esccorter · escoretr · escorrter · escorterr · escortre · escortter · escotrer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "écouter" and "escorter" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "écouter" vs "escorter" - which ranks higher?
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 "écouter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "escorter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #283,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écouter" and "escorter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escorter vs escortes". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #283,704 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.