Which to use
“retourner” and “retournera” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,055
- “retourner” frequency rank
- #24,013
- “retournera” frequency rank
- 26068
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retourner | retournera |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aller de nouveau en un lieu. | Troisième personne du singulier du futur de retourner. |
Where the eye mixes retourner and retournera
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. retourner runs 9 letters (CVCVVCCVC) against retournera's 10 (CVCVVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses retourner with retournera
A purely visual mix-up. retourner (\ʁə.tuʁ.ne\) and retournera (\ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁa\) 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 extra letter(s) - “retourner” sits inside “retournera”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retourner is recorded at frequency rank #2,055, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁ.ne\. retournera is at rank #24,013, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁa\.
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 26068, this pair ranks #337,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of retourner vs retournera
Shared letters: enortu. Private to "retourner": -. Private to "retournera": a.
"retourner" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC · "retournera" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- retourner ← ertourner · reoturner · retoruner · retounrer · retourenr · retournerr · retournner · retournre
- retournera ← ertournera · reoturnera · retorunera · retounrera · retourenra · retournear · retournerra · retournnera
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "retourner" and "retournera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "retourner" or "retournera" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "retourner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retournera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retourner" and "retournera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retournera vs retournerais". 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 #337,301 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.