Which to use
“retombées” is a noun and “retomber” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,485
- “retombées” frequency rank
- #12,854
- “retomber” frequency rank
- 28339
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retombées | retomber |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Retombées radioactives. | Tomber encore. |
Same sound, different letters: retombées vs retomber
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. retombées runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against retomber's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: retombées vs retomber
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: retombées 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 28339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retombées is recorded at frequency rank #15,485, 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 28339, this pair ranks #323,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retombées vs retomber
Shared letters: bemort. Private to "retombées": sé. Private to "retomber": -.
"retombées" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "retomber" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retomber ← ertomber · reotmber · retmober · retobmer · retombber · retomberr · retombre · retomebr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retombées" for "retomber" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "retombées" or "retomber" show up more?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "retombées" 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 #323,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retombées" and "retomber" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "renommées vs retombées". 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 #323,438 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.