Which to use
“retourna” and “retournait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,463
- “retourna” frequency rank
- #33,869
- “retournait” frequency rank
- 50332
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retourna | retournait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de retourner. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de retourner. |
Where the eye mixes retourna and retournait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses retourna with retournait
A purely visual mix-up. retourna (\ʁə.tuʁ.na\) and retournait (\ʁə.tuʁ.nɛ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “retourna” sits inside “retournait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50332, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retourna is recorded at frequency rank #16,463, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁ.na\. retournait is at rank #33,869, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁ.nɛ\.
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 50332, this pair ranks #163,466 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retourna vs retournait
Shared letters: aenortu. Private to "retourna": -. Private to "retournait": i.
"retourna" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "retournait" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retourna ← ertourna · reoturna · retoruna · retounra · retouran · retournna · retourrna · rettourna
- retournait ← ertournait · reoturnait · retorunait · retounrait · retouranit · retournaitt · retournati · retourniat
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "retourna" and "retournait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "retourna" or "retournait" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "retourna" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retournait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #163,466 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retourna" and "retournait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retournait vs retournant". 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 #163,466 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.