regresanvsregresiónTell them apart

Quick tell: regresan is a verb, regresión is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“regresan” is a verb and “regresión” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,563
“regresan” frequency rank
#23,924
“regresión” frequency rank
34487
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regresan regresión
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de regresar o de regresarse. La retrocesión o el acto de volver hacia atrás.

Where the eye mixes regresan and regresión

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. regresan runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against regresión's 9 (CVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
regresan
9 ch
regresión

Visual trap between regresan and regresión

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: regresan is [reˈɣ̞ɾesãn] while regresión is [reɣ̞ɾeˈsjõn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34487, 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]. regresión is at rank #23,924, tagged as anoun, pronounced [reɣ̞ɾeˈsjõn].

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 34487, this pair ranks #191,167 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of regresan vs regresión

Shared letters: egnrs. Private to "regresan": a. Private to "regresión": .

"regresan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "regresión" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regresanergresan · regersan · reggresan · regreasn · regresann · regresna · regressan · regrresan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "regresan" and "regresión" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "regresan" is a verb and "regresión" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "regresan" vs "regresión" - which ranks higher?
"regresan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,563 in our Spanish list, against #23,924 for "regresión". 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 "regresión" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #191,167 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "regresan" and "regresión" 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 #191,167 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