Which to use
“regulate” and “regulates” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,716
- “regulate” frequency rank
- #19,435
- “regulates” frequency rank
- 28151
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | regulate | regulates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To dictate policy. | third-person singular simple present indicative of regulate |
Letter map: regulate vs regulates
Shared letters muted; letters that set regulate and regulates apart highlighted. Shared run: 8.
Corpus notes: regulate and regulates
regulate and regulates are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “regulate” sits inside “regulates”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
regulate is recorded at frequency rank #8,716, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɹɛɡjəleɪ̯t/. regulates is at rank #19,435, tagged as averb.
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 28151, this pair ranks #373,314 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of regulate vs regulates
Shared letters: aeglrtu. Private to "regulate": -. Private to "regulates": s.
"regulate" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "regulates" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "regulate" and "regulates" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "regulate" or "regulates"?
After this comparison
Pair "regulate" vs "regulates" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "regulate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "regulates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #373,314 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "regulate" and "regulates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regulates vs regulator". 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 #373,314 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.