regarvsregularWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: regar is a verb, regular is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“regar” is a verb and “regular” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,429
“regar” frequency rank
#2,633
“regular” frequency rank
28062
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regar regular
Definition Llevar el agua a la tierra que cubre las plantas, a los sembradíos y a las plantas mismas. Ajustado y conforme a regla.

Where the eye mixes regar and regular

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
regar
7 ch
regular

Visual trap between regar and regular

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: regar is [reˈɣ̞aɾ] while regular is [reɣ̞uˈlaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regar is recorded at frequency rank #25,429, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈɣ̞aɾ]. regular is at rank #2,633, tagged as anadj, pronounced [reɣ̞uˈlaɾ].

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 28062, this pair ranks #223,849 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of regar vs regular

Shared letters: aegr. Private to "regar": -. Private to "regular": lu.

"regar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "regular" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regarergar · reagr · regarr · reggar · regra · rgear · rregar
  • regularergular · reggular · regluar · regualr · regularr · regullar · regulra · reuglar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "regar" and "regular" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "regar" is a verb and "regular" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "regar" or "regular" show up more?
"regular" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,633 in our Spanish list, against #25,429 for "regar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "regar" and "regular" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "regar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "regular" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #223,849 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "regar" and "regular" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regado vs regar". 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 #223,849 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