retournésvsretoursWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: retournés is a adjective, retours is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“retournés” is an adjective and “retours” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,550
“retournés” frequency rank
#6,651
“retours” frequency rank
27201
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retournés retours
Definition Masculin pluriel de retourné. Pluriel de retour.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set retournés and retours apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
retournés
7 ch
retours

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retournés is \ʁə.tuʁ.ne\ while retours is \ʁə.tuʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retournés is recorded at frequency rank #20,550, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁ.ne\. retours is at rank #6,651, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁ\.

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 27201, this pair ranks #330,481 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of retournés vs retours

Shared letters: eorstu. Private to "retournés": . Private to "retours": -.

"retournés" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC  ·  "retours" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retoursertours · reoturs · retorus · retourrs · retourss · retousr · rettours · retuors

Frequency comparison

retournés#20,550
retours#6,651

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "retournés" and "retours" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "retournés" is an adjective and "retours" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "retournés" or "retours"?
"retours" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,651 in our French list, against #20,550 for "retournés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering retournés vs retours

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “retournés”; for a noun, it's “retours”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “retournés” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list