retiréesvsretirerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: retirées is a adjective, retirer is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“retirées” is an adjective and “retirer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,350
“retirées” frequency rank
#2,448
“retirer” frequency rank
25798
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retirées retirer
Definition Féminin pluriel de retiré. Tirer à nouveau.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set retirées and retirer apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
retirées
7 ch
retirer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: retirées and retirer carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʁə.ti.ʁe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25798, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retirées is recorded at frequency rank #23,350, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.ti.ʁe\. retirer is at rank #2,448, 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 25798, this pair ranks #338,789 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of retirées vs retirer

Shared letters: eirt. Private to "retirées": . Private to "retirer": -.

"retirées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "retirer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retirerertirer · reitrer · retierr · retirerr · retirre · retirrer · retrier · rettirer

Frequency comparison

retirées#23,350
retirer#2,448

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "retirées" and "retirer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "retirées" is an adjective and "retirer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "retirées" or "retirer"?
"retirer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,448 in our French list, against #23,350 for "retirées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering retirées vs retirer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “retirées”; for a verb, it's “retirer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “retirées” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list