Which to use
“reculer” and “régler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,452
- “reculer” frequency rank
- #2,595
- “régler” frequency rank
- 11047
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reculer | régler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tirer ou pousser un objet en arrière. | Tirer avec la règle des lignes droites sur du papier, du carton, etc. |
Where the eye mixes reculer and régler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses reculer with régler
A purely visual mix-up. reculer (\ʁə.ky.le\) and régler (\ʁe.ɡle\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reculer is recorded at frequency rank #8,452, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ky.le\. régler is at rank #2,595, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.ɡle\.
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 11047, this pair ranks #410,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reculer vs régler
Shared letters: elr. Private to "reculer": cu. Private to "régler": gé.
"reculer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "régler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- reculer ← erculer · rceuler · recculer · recluer · recuelr · reculerr · reculler · reculre
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "reculer" and "régler" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "reculer" or "régler" show up more?
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 "reculer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "régler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #410,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reculer" and "régler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recouper vs reculer". 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 #410,664 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.