retraitevsretraitésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: retraite is a noun, retraités is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#1,343
“retraite” frequency rank
#7,893
“retraités” frequency rank
9236
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retraite retraités
Definition Action de se retirer. Masculin pluriel de retraité.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
retraite
9 ch
retraités

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retraite is \ʁə.tʁɛt\ while retraités is \ʁə.tʁɛ.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retraite is recorded at frequency rank #1,343, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.tʁɛt\. retraités is at rank #7,893, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.tʁɛ.te\.

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 9236, this pair ranks #417,348 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of retraite vs retraités

Shared letters: aeirt. Private to "retraite": -. Private to "retraités": .

"retraite" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "retraités" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retraiteertraite · rertaite · retarite · retraiet · retraitte · retratie · retriate · retrraite

Frequency comparison

retraite#1,343
retraités#7,893

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "retraite" and "retraités" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "retraite" is a noun and "retraités" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "retraite" or "retraités"?
"retraite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,343 in our French list, against #7,893 for "retraités". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering retraite vs retraités

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “retraite”; for an adjective, it's “retraités”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “retraite” 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