Which to use
“retourne” is a noun and “retournent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,449
- “retourne” frequency rank
- #14,552
- “retournent” frequency rank
- 17001
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retourne | retournent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Carte qu’on retourne à certains jeux, à la fin de la distribution, et qui détermine ordinairement l’atout. Dans certains jeux on dit virade. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de retourner. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set retourne and retournent apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
retourne and retournent form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “retourne” sits inside “retournent” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retourne is recorded at frequency rank #2,449, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁn\. 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 17001, this pair ranks #385,270 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "retourne" and "retournent" be used interchangeably?
Remembering retourne vs retournent
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “retourne”; for a verb, it's “retournent”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “retourne” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable