Which to use
“règlent” and “retient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,957
- “règlent” frequency rank
- #8,298
- “retient” frequency rank
- 38255
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | règlent | retient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de régler. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de retenir. |
Where the eye mixes règlent and retient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. règlent (CVCCVCC) and retient (CVCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: règlent vs retient
A purely visual mix-up. règlent (\ʁɛɡl\) and retient (\ʁə.tjɛ̃\) 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 38255, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
règlent is recorded at frequency rank #29,957, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁɛɡl\. retient is at rank #8,298, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tjɛ̃\.
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 38255, this pair ranks #256,568 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of règlent vs retient
Shared letters: enrt. Private to "règlent": glè. Private to "retient": i.
"règlent" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "retient" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retient ← ertient · reitent · reteint · retiennt · retientt · retietn · retinet · rettient
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "règlent" and "retient" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "règlent" vs "retient" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "règlent" and "retient" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "règlent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #256,568 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "règlent" and "retient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recèlent vs règlent". 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 #256,568 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.