Which to use
“retienne” and “retiennent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,011
- “retienne” frequency rank
- #20,267
- “retiennent” frequency rank
- 62278
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retienne | retiennent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de retenir. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de retenir. |
Same sound, different letters: retienne vs retiennent
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. retienne runs 8 letters (CVCVVCCV) against retiennent's 10 (CVCVVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - retienne / retiennent
This is the hard kind. retienne and retiennent are pronounced identically (\ʁə.tjɛn\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “retienne” sits inside “retiennent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62278, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retienne is recorded at frequency rank #42,011, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tjɛn\. retiennent is at rank #20,267, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tjɛn\.
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 62278, this pair ranks #87,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of retienne vs retiennent
Shared letters: einrt. Private to "retienne": -. Private to "retiennent": -.
"retienne" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "retiennent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retienne ← ertienne · reitenne · reteinne · retiene · retienen · retinene · rettienne · rretienne
- retiennent ← ertiennent · reitennent · reteinnent · retienennt · retienent · retiennennt · retiennentt · retiennetn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retienne" for "retiennent" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "retienne" or "retiennent" show up more?
After this comparison
"retienne" and "retiennent" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "retienne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retiennent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #87,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retienne" and "retiennent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réticente vs retienne". 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 #87,942 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.