regresanvsretrasanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,563
“regresan” frequency rank
#49,252
“retrasan” frequency rank
59815
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regresan retrasan
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 indicativo de retrasar.

Where the eye mixes regresan and retrasan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. regresan and retrasan 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
retrasan

Why the eye confuses regresan with retrasan

A purely visual mix-up. regresan ([reˈɣ̞ɾesãn]) and retrasan ([reˈt̪ɾasãn]) 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 59815, 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]. retrasan is at rank #49,252, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪ɾasãn].

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 59815, this pair ranks #61,253 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of regresan vs retrasan

Shared letters: aenrs. Private to "regresan": g. Private to "retrasan": t.

"regresan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "retrasan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regresanergresan · regersan · reggresan · regreasn · regresann · regresna · regressan · regrresan
  • retrasanertrasan · rertasan · retarsan · retraasn · retrasann · retrasna · retrassan · retrrasan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "regresan" and "retrasan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([reˈɣ̞ɾesãn] versus [reˈt̪ɾasãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "regresan" or "retrasan" show up more?
"regresan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,563 in our Spanish list, against #49,252 for "retrasan". 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 "regresan" and "retrasan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "regresan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retrasan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #61,253 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "regresan" and "retrasan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retrasan vs retratan". 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 #61,253 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