Which to use
“reculer” and “réguler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,452
- “reculer” frequency rank
- #17,554
- “réguler” frequency rank
- 26006
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reculer | réguler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tirer ou pousser un objet en arrière. | Ajuster de manière définitive ou permanente. |
Where the eye mixes reculer and réguler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses reculer with réguler
A purely visual mix-up. reculer (\ʁə.ky.le\) and réguler (\ʁe.ɡy.le\) 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 26006, 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\. réguler is at rank #17,554, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.ɡy.le\.
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 26006, this pair ranks #337,638 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reculer vs réguler
Shared letters: elru. Private to "reculer": c. Private to "réguler": gé.
"reculer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "réguler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- reculer ← erculer · rceuler · recculer · recluer · recuelr · reculerr · reculler · reculre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reculer" for "réguler" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "reculer" or "réguler" show up more?
What to do next
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 "réguler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,638 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reculer" and "réguler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "régulée vs réguler". 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 #337,638 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.