Which to use
“reprenez” and “retenez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,340
- “reprenez” frequency rank
- #19,139
- “retenez” frequency rank
- 49479
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reprenez | retenez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de reprendre. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de retenir. |
Where the eye mixes reprenez and retenez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. reprenez runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against retenez's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses reprenez with retenez
A purely visual mix-up. reprenez (\ʁə.pʁə.ne\) and retenez (\ʁə.tə.ne\) 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 49479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reprenez is recorded at frequency rank #30,340, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.pʁə.ne\. retenez is at rank #19,139, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tə.ne\.
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 49479, this pair ranks #170,300 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of reprenez vs retenez
Shared letters: enrz. Private to "reprenez": p. Private to "retenez": t.
"reprenez" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "retenez" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "reprenez" and "retenez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "reprenez" or "retenez"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "reprenez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retenez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,300 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reprenez" and "retenez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repreneur vs reprenez". 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 #170,300 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.