réellevsrégléeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: réelle is a adjective, réglée is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“réelle” is an adjective and “réglée” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,694
“réelle” frequency rank
#14,354
“réglée” frequency rank
17048
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réelle réglée
Definition Féminin singulier de réel. Pile de feuille de carton.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set réelle and réglée apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
réelle
6 ch
réglée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: réelle is \ʁe.ɛl\ while réglée is \ʁe.ɡle\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réelle is recorded at frequency rank #2,694, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.ɛl\. réglée is at rank #14,354, tagged as anoun, 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 17048, this pair ranks #385,058 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of réelle vs réglée

Shared letters: elré. Private to "réelle": -. Private to "réglée": g.

"réelle" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "réglée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

réelle#2,694
réglée#14,354

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réelle" and "réglée" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "réelle" is an adjective and "réglée" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "réelle" or "réglée"?
"réelle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,694 in our French list, against #14,354 for "réglée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering réelle vs réglée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “réelle”; for a noun, it's “réglée”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “réelle” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list