regiertenvsreguliertenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#28,351
“regierten” frequency rank
#47,690
“regulierten” frequency rank
76041
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regierten regulierten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs regiert Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs reguliert

Where the eye mixes regierten and regulierten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. regierten runs 9 letters (CVCVVCCVC) against regulierten's 11 (CVCVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
regierten
11 ch
regulierten

Why the eye confuses regierten with regulierten

A purely visual mix-up. regierten ([ʁeˈɡiːɐ̯tn̩]) and regulierten ([ʁeɡuˈliːɐ̯tn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76041, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regierten is recorded at frequency rank #28,351, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʁeˈɡiːɐ̯tn̩]. regulierten is at rank #47,690, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁeɡuˈliːɐ̯tn̩].

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 76041, this pair ranks #293,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of regierten vs regulierten

Shared letters: eginrt. Private to "regierten": -. Private to "regulierten": lu.

"regierten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC  ·  "regulierten" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regiertenergierten · regeirten · reggierten · regieretn · regierrten · regiertenn · regiertne · regiertten
  • reguliertenergulierten · reggulierten · regluierten · reguilerten · reguleirten · regulieretn · regulierrten · reguliertenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "regierten" for "regulierten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʁeˈɡiːɐ̯tn̩] versus [ʁeɡuˈliːɐ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "regierten" or "regulierten" show up more?
"regierten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,351 in our German list, against #47,690 for "regulierten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "regierten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "regulierten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #293,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "regierten" and "regulierten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regulieren vs regulierten". 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 #293,188 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