Which to use
“retombé” is a noun and “retomber” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,330
- “retombé” frequency rank
- #12,854
- “retomber” frequency rank
- 41184
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retombé | retomber |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Façon dont un vêtement pend sur le bas du corps. | Tomber encore. |
Same sound, different letters: retombé vs retomber
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. retombé runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against retomber's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - retombé and retomber
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: retombé and retomber carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʁə.tɔ̃.be\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, 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 41184, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retombé is recorded at frequency rank #28,330, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.tɔ̃.be\. retomber is at rank #12,854, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tɔ̃.be\.
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 41184, this pair ranks #234,989 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retombé vs retomber
Shared letters: bemort. Private to "retombé": é. Private to "retomber": -.
"retombé" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "retomber" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retomber ← ertomber · reotmber · retmober · retobmer · retombber · retomberr · retombre · retomebr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retombé" for "retomber" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "retombé" or "retomber" show up more?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "retombé" / "retomber". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "retombé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retomber" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #234,989 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retombé" and "retomber" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retombé vs retombent". 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 #234,989 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.