Which to use
“tourner” is a verb and “tournis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,758
- “tourner” frequency rank
- #44,230
- “tournis” frequency rank
- 45988
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tourner | tournis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mouvoir en rond, par un mouvement circulaire ou en ligne courbe, autour d’un axe de rotation. | Maladie des moutons et des bœufs dans laquelle, pris d’une sorte de vertige, ils tournent convulsivement sur eux-mêmes. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tourner and tournis apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
tourner and tournis form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tourner is recorded at frequency rank #1,758, classified as averb, pronounced \tuʁ.ne\. tournis is at rank #44,230, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tuʁ.ni\.
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 45988, this pair ranks #198,517 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tourner" and "tournis" be used interchangeably?
Remembering tourner vs tournis
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “tourner”; for a noun, it's “tournis”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tourner” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable