Which to use
“retrouver” and “retrouvés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #829
- “retrouver” frequency rank
- #8,029
- “retrouvés” frequency rank
- 8858
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retrouver | retrouvés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Revenir en contact avec quelqu'un ou quelque chose dont on avait été séparé, qu'on avait perdu ou qu'on avait oublié. | Participe passé masculin pluriel de retrouver. |
Where the eye mixes retrouver and retrouvés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. retrouver and retrouvés follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between retrouver and retrouvés
A purely visual mix-up. retrouver (\ʁə.tʁu.ve\) and retrouvés (\ʁe.tʁu.ve\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8858, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retrouver is recorded at frequency rank #829, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.tʁu.ve\. retrouvés is at rank #8,029, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.tʁu.ve\.
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 8858, this pair ranks #418,640 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of retrouver vs retrouvés
Shared letters: eortuv. Private to "retrouver": -. Private to "retrouvés": sé.
"retrouver" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "retrouvés" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retrouver ← ertrouver · rertouver · retoruver · retrouevr · retrouverr · retrouvre · retrouvver · retrovuer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retrouver" for "retrouvés" ever safe?
Which is more common, "retrouver" or "retrouvés"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "retrouver" and "retrouvés" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "retrouver" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retrouvés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,640 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retrouver" and "retrouvés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retrouveras vs retrouvés". 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 #418,640 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.