retardevsretardésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: retarde is a verb, retardés is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“retarde” is a verb and “retardés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,160
“retarde” frequency rank
#39,506
“retardés” frequency rank
65666
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retarde retardés
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de retarder. Masculin pluriel de retardé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set retarde and retardés apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
retarde
8 ch
retardés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retarde is \ʁə.taʁd\ while retardés is \ʁə.taʁ.de\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retarde is recorded at frequency rank #26,160, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.taʁd\. retardés is at rank #39,506, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.taʁ.de\.

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 65666, this pair ranks #71,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of retarde vs retardés

Shared letters: adert. Private to "retarde": -. Private to "retardés": .

"retarde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "retardés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retardeertarde · reatrde · retadre · retardde · retared · retarrde · retrade · rettarde

Frequency comparison

retarde#26,160
retardés#39,506

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "retarde" and "retardés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "retarde" is a verb and "retardés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "retarde" or "retardés"?
"retarde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,160 in our French list, against #39,506 for "retardés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering retarde vs retardés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “retarde”; for an adjective, it's “retardés”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “retarde” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list