Which to use
“retenir” and “revenir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,565
- “retenir” frequency rank
- #1,096
- “revenir” frequency rank
- 4661
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retenir | revenir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Garder par-devers soi ce qui est à un autre. | Venir une autre fois, venir de nouveau. |
Where the eye mixes retenir and revenir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. retenir and revenir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses retenir with revenir
A purely visual mix-up. retenir (\ʁət.niʁ\) and revenir (\ʁə.vniʁ\) 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 a single letter - t in “retenir” becomes v in “revenir”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4661, 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\. revenir is at rank #1,096, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.vniʁ\.
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 4661, this pair ranks #431,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of retenir vs revenir
Shared letters: einr. Private to "retenir": t. Private to "revenir": v.
"retenir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "revenir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retenir" for "revenir" ever safe?
Which is more common, "retenir" or "revenir"?
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 "retenir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "revenir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retenir" and "revenir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retenir vs retenti". 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 #431,023 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.