Which to use
“regulation” and “regulations” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,781
- “regulation” frequency rank
- #3,019
- “regulations” frequency rank
- 6800
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | regulation | regulations |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of regulating or the condition of being regulated. | plural of regulation |
Where the eye mixes regulation and regulations
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. regulation runs 10 letters (CVCVCVCVVC) against regulations's 11 (CVCVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses regulation with regulations
A purely visual mix-up. regulation (/ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/) and regulations (/ˌɹɛɡjəˈleɪʃənz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “regulation” sits inside “regulations”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6800, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
regulation is recorded at frequency rank #3,781, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/. regulations is at rank #3,019, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌɹɛɡjəˈleɪʃənz/.
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 6800, this pair ranks #509,916 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of regulation vs regulations
Shared letters: aegilnortu. Private to "regulation": -. Private to "regulations": s.
"regulation" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC · "regulations" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- regulation ← ergulation · reggulation · regluation · regualtion · regulaiton · regulasion · regulatino · regulationn
- regulations ← ergulations · reggulations · regluations · regualtions · regulaitons · regulatinos · regulationns · regulationss
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "regulation" and "regulations" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "regulation" or "regulations"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "regulation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "regulations" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #509,916 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "regulation" and "regulations" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refutation vs regulation". 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 #509,916 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.