RegelvsReheTell them apart

Which to use

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

#892
“Regel” frequency rank
#32,739
“Rehe” frequency rank
33631
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Regel Rehe
Definition Verhaltensvorschrift Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Reh

Where the eye mixes Regel and Rehe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Regel runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Rehe's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Regel
4 ch
Rehe

Why the eye confuses Regel with Rehe

A purely visual mix-up. Regel ([ˈʁeːɡl̩]) and Rehe ([ˈʁeːə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Regel is recorded at frequency rank #892, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁeːɡl̩]. Rehe is at rank #32,739, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁeːə].

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 33631, this pair ranks #1,681,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Regel vs Rehe

Shared letters: er. Private to "Regel": gl. Private to "Rehe": h.

"Regel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Rehe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Regel ← ergel · reegl · regell · reggel · regle · rgeel · rregel
  • Rehe ← reeh · rehhe · rhee · rrehe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Regel" and "Rehe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁeːɡl̩] versus [ˈʁeːə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Regel" or "Rehe"?
"Regel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #892 in our German list, against #32,739 for "Rehe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Regel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rehe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,681,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Regel" and "Rehe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rech vs Rehe". 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 #1,681,579 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