RegelvsregstTell them apart

Quick tell: Regel is a noun, regst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Regel” is a noun and “regst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#892
“Regel” frequency rank
#47,689
“regst” frequency rank
48581
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Regel regst
Definition Verhaltensvorschrift 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs regen

Where the eye mixes Regel and regst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Regel (CVCVC) and regst (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Regel
5 ch
regst

Visual trap between Regel and regst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Regel is [ˈʁeːɡl̩] while regst is [ʁeːkst]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48581, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Regel is recorded at frequency rank #892, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁeːɡl̩]. regst is at rank #47,689, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁeːkst].

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 48581, this pair ranks #1,243,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Regel vs regst

Shared letters: egr. Private to "Regel": l. Private to "regst": st.

"Regel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "regst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Regel ← ergel · reegl · regell · reggel · regle · rgeel · rregel
  • regst ← ergst · reggst · regsst · regstt · regts · resgt · rgest · rregst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Regel" and "regst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Regel" is a noun and "regst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Regel" or "regst"?
"Regel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #892 in our German list, against #47,689 for "regst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Regel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "regst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,243,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Regel" and "regst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regst vs rennst". 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 #1,243,200 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