regandovsretardoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“regando” and “retardo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,241
“regando” frequency rank
#35,235
“retardo” frequency rank
84476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regando retardo
Definition Gerundio de regar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de retardar.

Where the eye mixes regando and retardo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. regando and retardo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
regando
7 ch
retardo

Why the eye confuses regando with retardo

A purely visual mix-up. regando ([reˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o]) and retardo ([reˈt̪aɾð̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regando is recorded at frequency rank #49,241, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o]. retardo is at rank #35,235, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪aɾð̞o].

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 84476, this pair ranks #7,022 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of regando vs retardo

Shared letters: adeor. Private to "regando": gn. Private to "retardo": t.

"regando" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "retardo" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regando ← ergando · reagndo · regadno · reganddo · reganndo · reganod · reggando · regnado
  • retardo ← ertardo · reatrdo · retadro · retarddo · retarod · retarrdo · retrado · rettardo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "regando" and "retardo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([reˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o] versus [reˈt̪aɾð̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "regando" vs "retardo" - which ranks higher?
"retardo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,235 in our Spanish list, against #49,241 for "regando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "regando" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retardo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,022 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "regando" and "retardo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regado vs regando". 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 #7,022 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list