Which to use
“retenons” and “retenus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,327
- “retenons” frequency rank
- #11,122
- “retenus” frequency rank
- 60449
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retenons | retenus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de retenir. | Masculin pluriel du participe passé du verbe retenir. |
Where the eye mixes retenons and retenus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. retenons runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against retenus's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between retenons and retenus
A purely visual mix-up. retenons (\ʁə.tə.nɔ̃\) and retenus (\ʁət.ny\) 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 60449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retenons is recorded at frequency rank #49,327, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tə.nɔ̃\. retenus is at rank #11,122, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁət.ny\.
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 60449, this pair ranks #97,522 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of retenons vs retenus
Shared letters: enrst. Private to "retenons": o. Private to "retenus": u.
"retenons" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "retenus" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "retenons" and "retenus" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "retenons" or "retenus"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "retenons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retenus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #97,522 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retenons" and "retenus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "répétons vs retenons". 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 #97,522 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.