Which to use
“reprennent” and “retiennent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,611
- “reprennent” frequency rank
- #20,267
- “retiennent” frequency rank
- 28878
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reprennent | retiennent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de reprendre. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de retenir. |
Where the eye mixes reprennent and retiennent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. reprennent (CVCCVCCVCC) and retiennent (CVCVVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses reprennent with retiennent
A purely visual mix-up. reprennent (\ʁə.pʁɛn\) and retiennent (\ʁə.tjɛn\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reprennent is recorded at frequency rank #8,611, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.pʁɛn\. retiennent is at rank #20,267, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tjɛn\.
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 28878, this pair ranks #320,092 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of reprennent vs retiennent
Shared letters: enrt. Private to "reprennent": p. Private to "retiennent": i.
"reprennent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC · "retiennent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- reprennent ← erprennent · repernnent · repprennent · reprenennt · reprenent · reprennennt · reprennentt · reprennetn
- retiennent ← ertiennent · reitennent · reteinnent · retienennt · retienent · retiennennt · retiennentt · retiennetn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "reprennent" and "retiennent" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "reprennent" or "retiennent" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "reprennent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retiennent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,092 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reprennent" and "retiennent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retienne vs retiennent". 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 #320,092 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.