Which to use
“retourner” is a verb and “retournés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,055
- “retourner” frequency rank
- #20,550
- “retournés” frequency rank
- 22605
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retourner | retournés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aller de nouveau en un lieu. | Masculin pluriel de retourné. |
Same sound, different letters: retourner vs retournés
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. retourner and retournés follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Same sound, different spelling - retourner / retournés
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: retourner and retournés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʁə.tuʁ.ne\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22605, 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\. retournés is at rank #20,550, tagged as anadj, 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 22605, this pair ranks #357,091 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of retourner vs retournés
Shared letters: enortu. Private to "retourner": -. Private to "retournés": sé.
"retourner" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC · "retournés" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retourner ← ertourner · reoturner · retoruner · retounrer · retourenr · retournerr · retournner · retournre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retourner" for "retournés" ever safe?
Frequency check: "retourner" vs "retournés" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "retourner" / "retournés". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "retourner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retournés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #357,091 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retourner" and "retournés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retournées vs retournés". 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 #357,091 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.