regagnévsrégaleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: regagné is a verb, régale is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“regagné” is a verb and “régale” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,031
“regagné” frequency rank
#20,558
“régale” frequency rank
57589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regagné régale
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de regagner. Royal.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set regagné and régale apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
regagné
6 ch
régale

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: regagné is \ʁə.ɡa.ɲe\ while régale is \ʁe.ɡal\. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regagné is recorded at frequency rank #37,031, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ɡa.ɲe\. régale is at rank #20,558, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.ɡal\.

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 57589, this pair ranks #114,128 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of regagné vs régale

Shared letters: aegré. Private to "regagné": n. Private to "régale": l.

"regagné" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "régale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

regagné#37,031
régale#20,558

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "regagné" and "régale" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "regagné" is a verb and "régale" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "regagné" or "régale"?
"régale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,558 in our French list, against #37,031 for "regagné". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering regagné vs régale

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “regagné”; for an adjective, it's “régale”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “regagné” 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