# Retrievability vs retention **URL:** \ **Category:** Translating\ **Created:** [November 9, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764 "2024-11-09T22:12:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sommerluk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@sommerluk](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/sommerluk)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/1 "2024-11-09T22:12:15Z")
I’m currently trying to improve the German translation. What does “retrievability” and “retention” mean? Are they actually the same thing (and should be translated by the same word)? Or do they represent clearly different concepts (and should therefore be translated by two different words)? - “retention” is used in deck-options.ftl (FSRS configuration) and statistics.ftl (though I did still not actually find in the the application itself) - “retrievability” in deck-options (sort order), card-stats.ftl und statistics.ftl Could you give me a clear explication for both terms? ---
**Author:** ![DerIshmaelite](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/derishmaelite/32/17983_2.png) [@DerIshmaelite](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/DerIshmaelite)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/2 "2024-11-09T22:24:47Z")
I think @Expertium is best suited to answer this. I’ll answer to the best of my knowledge. - Retention is your ability to recall. 90 out of 100 correct reviews on the first time denotes a true retention of 90%. So I think it would translate to something like “Abruffähigkeit” (Please note I am not German). - Retrievability is your probability of recalling a single card. It is a part of the Retrievability-Stability-Difficulty system. So it is a part of a mathematical function. “Abrufwahrscheinlichkeit” would probably be an appropriate translation. I have answered the best I can and I stand corrected if there is an error I made. ---
**Author:** ![Danika\_Dakika](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danika_dakika/32/17815_2.png) [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/3 "2024-11-09T22:53:35Z")
They are definitely not the same – and they are commonly confused terms, so please translate them differently from each other, and consistent with each use! For me it helps to remember that retrievability is a property of the card, retention is a property of the person. **Retrievability** is one of the core values of FSRS, so it’s best to keep the translation as close as possible to the [precise definition](https://github.com/open-spaced-repetition/fsrs4anki/wiki/ABC-of-FSRS). But basically – it’s **the chance** that a piece of information can be “retrieved” from your memory. “Memorability” might be another safe translation. > The probability that the person can successfully recall a particular piece of information at a given moment. It depends on the time elapsed since the last review and the memory stability (S). **Retention** is used with different adjectives in different places, but it’s generally focused on **how many** cards you will remember when they are due and **how many** you did remember when you studied them. This is [a good article](https://www.reddit.com/r/Anki/comments/1anfmcw/you_dont_understand_retention_in_fsrs/) about some of the various meanings when it is used. 1. Desired retention 2. Minimum recommended retention 3. True retention 4. Historical retention 5. Average predicted retention ---
**Author:** ![Expertium](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/expertium/32/24176_2.png) [@Expertium](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Expertium)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/4 "2024-11-10T00:49:18Z")
They should be translated using different words. Retrievability is calculated by FSRS, it’s the _predicted_ probability of recall. Retention can refer to a few things (as Danika Dakika pointed out), but they all share a common property - “retention” refers to a group of cards rather than just one card. I do agree that translating them is a pain. ---
**Author:** ![DerIshmaelite](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/derishmaelite/32/17983_2.png) [@DerIshmaelite](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/DerIshmaelite)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 11:28am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/5 "2024-11-10T11:28:48Z")
“Abruffähigkeit” literally means Recall Ability → Retention “Abrufwahrscheinlichkeit” literally means Recall Probability → Retrievability I suppose this is an accurate enough translation ❓ ---
**Author:** ![sorata](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/sorata/32/34115_2.png) [@sorata](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/sorata)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/6 "2024-11-12T14:44:20Z")
Recall Abiility seems wrong. Retention isn’t about potential. Retreivability is. But I don’t speak German, so maybe I’m wrong. In some contexts, like desired retention, desired recall ability does give you the same sense. ---
**Author:** ![DerIshmaelite](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/derishmaelite/32/17983_2.png) [@DerIshmaelite](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/DerIshmaelite)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/7 "2024-11-12T14:47:13Z")
How about “Abrufleistung” which means Achieved Recall ---
**Author:** ![sorata](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/sorata/32/34115_2.png) [@sorata](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/sorata)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/8 "2024-11-12T14:48:23Z")
Not sure. Sounds correct to me but it comes in past tense. Does it fit into words like Desired Retention? ---
**Author:** ![DerIshmaelite](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/derishmaelite/32/17983_2.png) [@DerIshmaelite](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/DerIshmaelite)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/9 "2024-11-12T14:49:12Z")
Let me correct myself, it is a noun and it rather means Recall performance. How about that. ---
**Author:** ![Danika\_Dakika](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danika_dakika/32/17815_2.png) [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/10 "2024-11-12T15:36:29Z")
OP, who I assume is a native or high-fluency speaker of German, was not asking for many suggestions about what German word to use. They asked for clearer definition on how the words are used and distinguished in English. Let’s re-center this thread on the question asked and hold off on any more German suggestions unless they indicate that is helpful to them. ---
**Author:** ![sommerluk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@sommerluk](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/sommerluk)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/11 "2024-11-13T21:29:44Z")
Thanks. Your explications helped me a lot. Especially that retrievability is a “property of a single card” and a “probability”, but retention a “property of a group of cards” and a sort of “rate”. I’ll try to find an appropriate translation, reflecting these remarks, and translate both terms differently and consistently. Thanks a lot to you all! Some remarks about the texts in Anki that contain “Retention” or “Retrievability”: **Retention** We have one string statistics-true-retention-title which is “True Retention”. One could argue, if there is a true retention, is there also a false retention, or are all other retention values false? Maybe “Actual Retention” might be a clearer alternative? In deck-config-compute-optimal-retention-tooltip3 we have the phrase “You may wish to choose a higher desired retention, if you’re willing to trade more study time for a greater recall rate.” This seems a bit tautological given that “recall rate” IS the retention. Maybe use a shorter phrase like “You may wish to choose a higher desired retention, if in return you’re willing to study more time.”? **Retrievability** It seems that “retrievability” is used quite consistently across the translation files. A minor inconsistency is maybe statistics-card-retrievability-title which used “Card Retrievability” instead of simply “Retrievability”, and just as in the same translation file we also have “Card Easy”, “Card Difficulty” … following the same pattern with a “Card …” prefix. But we have on the other hand “Review Intervals”, “Reviews” … without “Card” in the string. Maybe it would be more consistent to eliminate these "Card " prefixes to follow always the same pattern. ---
**Author:** ![DerIshmaelite](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/derishmaelite/32/17983_2.png) [@DerIshmaelite](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/DerIshmaelite)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:20pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/12 "2024-11-13T23:20:09Z")
> [@sommerluk](#): > > We have one string statistics-true-retention-title which is “True Retention”. One could argue, if there is a true retention, is there also a false retention, or are all other retention values false? Maybe “Actual Retention” might be a clearer alternative? @sorata already has addressed this wording issue and I think it is in the works (I think…) ---
**Author:** ![sorata](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/sorata/32/34115_2.png) [@sorata](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/sorata)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/13 "2024-11-14T13:25:50Z")
No, nothing has really transpired yet on that front. I’m still waiting for @dae’s comment. ---
**Author:** ![Expertium](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/expertium/32/24176_2.png) [@Expertium](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Expertium)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2024, 10:35am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/14 "2024-11-15T10:35:37Z")
> [@sommerluk](#): > > This seems a bit tautological given that “recall rate” IS the retention I could’ve sworn I fixed something like this before. @dae sorry for pinging you all the time, but I would appreciate if you replaced “recall rate” with “retention”. EDIT: user1823 made a PR [Improve wording of optimal retention tooltip by user1823 · Pull Request #3579 · ankitects/anki · GitHub](https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/3579) EDIT 2: fixed ---
**Author:** ![sorata](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/sorata/32/34115_2.png) [@sorata](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/sorata)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/15 "2024-11-15T16:48:32Z")
That’s @user1823 though > [@Expertium](#): > > I fixed something like this before. You did, in the tooltip for CMRR ---
**Author:** ![Danika\_Dakika](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danika_dakika/32/17815_2.png) [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/16 "2024-11-21T14:53:05Z")
A post was split to a new topic: [Difference between Settings, Preferences, Options?](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/difference-between-settings-preferences-options/52195) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/anki2/original/1X/8f1279ababc5879d54e4838989f606cfe55af8c7.jpeg) [@system](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/retrievability-vs-retention/51764/17 "2024-12-21T14:53:30Z")
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