Which to use
“remain” is a noun and “retain” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,574
- “remain” frequency rank
- #5,541
- “retain” frequency rank
- 7115
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | remain | retain |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That which is left; relic; remainder. | Often followed by from: to hold back (someone or something); to check, to prevent, to restrain, to stop. |
Where the eye mixes remain and retain
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: remain is /ɹɪˈmeɪn/ while retain is /ɹɪˈteɪn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “remain” becomes t in “retain”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7115, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
remain is recorded at frequency rank #1,574, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈmeɪn/. retain is at rank #5,541, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈteɪn/.
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 7115, this pair ranks #508,508 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of remain vs retain
Shared letters: aeinr. Private to "remain": m. Private to "retain": t.
"remain" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "retain" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC