Which to use
“retournent” and “retournez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,552
- “retournent” frequency rank
- #21,755
- “retournez” frequency rank
- 36307
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retournent | retournez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de retourner. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de retourner. |
Where the eye mixes retournent and retournez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. retournent runs 10 letters (CVCVVCCVCC) against retournez's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses retournent with retournez
A purely visual mix-up. retournent (\ʁə.tuʁn\) and retournez (\ʁə.tuʁ.ne\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36307, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retournent is recorded at frequency rank #14,552, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁn\. retournez is at rank #21,755, 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 36307, this pair ranks #270,522 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retournent vs retournez
Shared letters: enortu. Private to "retournent": -. Private to "retournez": z.
"retournent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC · "retournez" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retournent ← ertournent · reoturnent · retorunent · retounrent · retourennt · retournennt · retournentt · retournetn
- retournez ← ertournez · reoturnez · retorunez · retounrez · retourenz · retournezz · retournnez · retournze
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retournent" for "retournez" ever safe?
Frequency check: "retournent" vs "retournez" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "retournent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retournez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #270,522 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retournent" and "retournez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retournées vs retournez". 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 #270,522 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.