regresanvsregresenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,563
“regresan” frequency rank
#17,266
“regresen” frequency rank
27829
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regresan regresen
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de regresar o de regresarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de regresar o de regresarse.

Where the eye mixes regresan and regresen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. regresan and regresen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
regresan
8 ch
regresen

Why the eye confuses regresan with regresen

A purely visual mix-up. regresan ([reˈɣ̞ɾesãn]) and regresen ([reˈɣ̞ɾesẽn]) 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 a single letter - a in “regresan” becomes e in “regresen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regresan is recorded at frequency rank #10,563, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈɣ̞ɾesãn]. regresen is at rank #17,266, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈɣ̞ɾesẽn].

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 27829, this pair ranks #224,962 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of regresan vs regresen

Shared letters: egnrs. Private to "regresan": a. Private to "regresen": -.

"regresan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "regresen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regresanergresan · regersan · reggresan · regreasn · regresann · regresna · regressan · regrresan
  • regresenergresen · regersen · reggresen · regrecen · regreesn · regresenn · regresne · regressen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "regresan" for "regresen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([reˈɣ̞ɾesãn] versus [reˈɣ̞ɾesẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "regresan" vs "regresen" - which ranks higher?
"regresan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,563 in our Spanish list, against #17,266 for "regresen". 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 "regresan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "regresen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #224,962 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "regresan" and "regresen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regresan vs retrasan". 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 #224,962 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