RetzvsreusConfusable pair

Quick tell: Retz is a name, reus is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Retz” is a name and “reus” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,695
“Retz” frequency rank
#38,513
“reus” frequency rank
70208
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Retz reus
Definition Pays de Bretagne, élevé en duché, dont la capitale a été Rezé puis Pornic. Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif passé simple du verbe ravoir.

Where the eye mixes Retz and reus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Retz (CVCC) and reus (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Retz
4 ch
reus

Look-alike desk: Retz vs reus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Retz is \ʁɛ\ while reus is \ʁy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70208, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Retz is recorded at frequency rank #31,695, classified as aname, pronounced \ʁɛ\. reus is at rank #38,513, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁy\.

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 70208, this pair ranks #52,233 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Retz vs reus

Shared letters: er. Private to "Retz": tz. Private to "reus": su.

"Retz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "reus" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Retz ← ertz · rettz · retzz · rezt · rretz · rtez
  • reus ← erus · resu · rreus

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Retz" and "reus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Retz" is a name and "reus" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Retz" or "reus"?
"Retz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,695 in our French list, against #38,513 for "reus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Retz" and "reus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Retz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #52,233 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Retz" and "reus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reus vs Rhys". 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 #52,233 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list