retranchévsrevancheWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: retranché is a verb, revanche is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“retranché” is a verb and “revanche” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,367
“retranché” frequency rank
#1,834
“revanche” frequency rank
26201
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retranché revanche
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de retrancher. Action par laquelle on reprend sur quelqu’un l’avantage qu’il avait pris. Action de rendre la pareille pour un mal qu'on a reçu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set retranché and revanche apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
retranché
8 ch
revanche

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retranché is \ʁə.tʁɑ̃.ʃe\ while revanche is \ʁə.vɑ̃ʃ\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retranché is recorded at frequency rank #24,367, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tʁɑ̃.ʃe\. revanche is at rank #1,834, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.vɑ̃ʃ\.

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 26201, this pair ranks #336,531 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of retranché vs revanche

Shared letters: acehnr. Private to "retranché": . Private to "revanche": v.

"retranché" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV  ·  "revanche" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • revancheervanche · reavnche · revacnhe · revancche · revanceh · revanchhe · revanhce · revannche

Frequency comparison

retranché#24,367
revanche#1,834

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "retranché" and "revanche" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "retranché" is a verb and "revanche" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "retranché" or "revanche"?
"revanche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,834 in our French list, against #24,367 for "retranché". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering retranché vs revanche

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “retranché”; for a noun, it's “revanche”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “retranché” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list