Which to use
“retournait” and “retournent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,869
- “retournait” frequency rank
- #14,552
- “retournent” frequency rank
- 48421
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retournait | retournent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de retourner. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de retourner. |
Where the eye mixes retournait and retournent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. retournait (CVCVVCCVVC) and retournent (CVCVVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: retournait vs retournent
A purely visual mix-up. retournait (\ʁə.tuʁ.nɛ\) and retournent (\ʁə.tuʁn\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retournait is recorded at frequency rank #33,869, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁ.nɛ\. retournent is at rank #14,552, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁn\.
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 48421, this pair ranks #179,072 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retournait vs retournent
Shared letters: enortu. Private to "retournait": ai. Private to "retournent": -.
"retournait" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVVC · "retournent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retournait ← ertournait · reoturnait · retorunait · retounrait · retouranit · retournaitt · retournati · retourniat
- retournent ← ertournent · reoturnent · retorunent · retounrent · retourennt · retournennt · retournentt · retournetn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retournait" for "retournent" ever safe?
Frequency check: "retournait" vs "retournent" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "retournait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retournent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #179,072 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retournait" and "retournent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retournent vs retourneront". 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 #179,072 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.