Which to use
“retenir” and “rétrécir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,565
- “retenir” frequency rank
- #40,481
- “rétrécir” frequency rank
- 44046
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retenir | rétrécir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Garder par-devers soi ce qui est à un autre. | Rendre plus étroit, moins large. |
Where the eye mixes retenir and rétrécir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between retenir and rétrécir
A purely visual mix-up. retenir (\ʁət.niʁ\) and rétrécir (\ʁe.tʁe.siʁ\) 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 44046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retenir is recorded at frequency rank #3,565, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁət.niʁ\. rétrécir is at rank #40,481, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.tʁe.siʁ\.
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 44046, this pair ranks #213,445 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retenir vs rétrécir
Shared letters: irt. Private to "retenir": en. Private to "rétrécir": cé.
"retenir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "rétrécir" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retenir ← ertenir · reetnir · reteinr · retenirr · retennir · retenri · retneir · rettenir
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "retenir" and "rétrécir" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "retenir" or "rétrécir" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "retenir" and "rétrécir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "retenir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rétrécir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #213,445 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retenir" and "rétrécir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rétréci vs rétrécir". 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 #213,445 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.