Which to use
“retourne” is a noun and “retourner” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,449
- “retourne” frequency rank
- #2,055
- “retourner” frequency rank
- 4504
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retourne | retourner |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Aller de nouveau en un lieu. |
Where the eye mixes retourne and retourner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. retourne runs 8 letters (CVCVVCCV) against retourner's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses retourne with retourner
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retourne is \ʁə.tuʁn\ while retourner is \ʁə.tuʁ.ne\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “retourne” sits inside “retourner”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4504, 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\. retourner is at rank #2,055, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁ.ne\.
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 4504, this pair ranks #431,434 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of retourne vs retourner
Shared letters: enortu. Private to "retourne": -. Private to "retourner": -.
"retourne" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "retourner" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "retourne" and "retourner" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "retourne" or "retourner" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "retourne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retourner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,434 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retourne" and "retourner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retourne vs retournées". 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 #431,434 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.