Which to use
“retenez” and “retirez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,139
- “retenez” frequency rank
- #21,446
- “retirez” frequency rank
- 40585
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retenez | retirez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de retenir. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de retirer. |
Where the eye mixes retenez and retirez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses retenez with retirez
A purely visual mix-up. retenez (\ʁə.tə.ne\) and retirez (\ʁə.ti.ʁe\) 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 40585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retenez is recorded at frequency rank #19,139, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tə.ne\. retirez is at rank #21,446, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ti.ʁe\.
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 40585, this pair ranks #239,419 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retenez vs retirez
Shared letters: ertz. Private to "retenez": n. Private to "retirez": i.
"retenez" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "retirez" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "retenez" and "retirez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "retenez" or "retirez" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "retenez" and "retirez" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "retenez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retirez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #239,419 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retenez" and "retirez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "resterez vs retirez". 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 #239,419 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.