readvsregtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“read” and “regt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,794
“read” frequency rank
#7,102
“regt” frequency rank
16896
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature read regt
Definition lesen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs regen

Where the eye mixes read and regt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
read
4 ch
regt

Why the eye confuses read with regt

A purely visual mix-up. read ([ɹiːd]) and regt ([ʁeːkt]) 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 16896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

read is recorded at frequency rank #9,794, classified as averb, pronounced [ɹiːd]. regt is at rank #7,102, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁeːkt].

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 16896, this pair ranks #1,932,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of read vs regt

Shared letters: er. Private to "read": ad. Private to "regt": gt.

"read" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "regt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • readerad · raed · readd · reda · rread
  • regtergt · reggt · regtt · retg · rget · rregt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "read" for "regt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɹiːd] versus [ʁeːkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "read" vs "regt" - which ranks higher?
"regt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,102 in our German list, against #9,794 for "read". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "read" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "regt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,932,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "read" and "regt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "read vs RSA". 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 #1,932,098 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list