Which to use
“recto” is a noun and “Retz” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,355
- “recto” frequency rank
- #31,695
- “Retz” frequency rank
- 56050
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recto | Retz |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première page d’un feuillet, par opposition au verso, qui est la seconde page, celle qui se trouve au revers du feuillet. | Pays de Bretagne, élevé en duché, dont la capitale a été Rezé puis Pornic. |
Where the eye mixes recto and Retz
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses recto with Retz
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: recto is \ʁɛk.to\ while Retz is \ʁɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recto is recorded at frequency rank #24,355, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛk.to\. Retz is at rank #31,695, tagged as aname, pronounced \ʁɛ\.
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 56050, this pair ranks #123,545 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recto vs Retz
Shared letters: ert. Private to "recto": co. Private to "Retz": z.
"recto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Retz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recto" and "Retz" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "recto" vs "Retz" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "recto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Retz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #123,545 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recto" and "Retz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reis vs Retz". 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 #123,545 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.