Which to use
“récupèrent” and “refusèrent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,729
- “récupèrent” frequency rank
- #42,572
- “refusèrent” frequency rank
- 71301
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | récupèrent | refusèrent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de récupérer. | Troisième personne du pluriel du passé simple de refuser. |
Where the eye mixes récupèrent and refusèrent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. récupèrent and refusèrent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: récupèrent vs refusèrent
A purely visual mix-up. récupèrent (\ʁe.ky.pɛʁ\) and refusèrent (\ʁə.fy.zɛʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
récupèrent is recorded at frequency rank #28,729, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.ky.pɛʁ\. refusèrent is at rank #42,572, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fy.zɛʁ\.
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 71301, this pair ranks #48,045 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of récupèrent vs refusèrent
Shared letters: enrtuè. Private to "récupèrent": cpé. Private to "refusèrent": fs.
"récupèrent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCC · "refusèrent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "récupèrent" and "refusèrent" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "récupèrent" or "refusèrent" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "récupèrent" and "refusèrent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "récupèrent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refusèrent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,045 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "récupèrent" and "refusèrent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refuseraient vs refusèrent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #48,045 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.