regagnervsrégalerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“regagner” and “régaler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,462
“regagner” frequency rank
#24,017
“régaler” frequency rank
37479
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regagner régaler
Definition Gagner ce qu’on avait perdu. Donner un régal, offrir un plaisir de table.

Where the eye mixes regagner and régaler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. regagner runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against régaler's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
regagner
7 ch
régaler

Look-alike desk: regagner vs régaler

A purely visual mix-up. regagner (\ʁə.ɡa.ɲe\) and régaler (\ʁe.ɡa.le\) 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 37479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regagner is recorded at frequency rank #13,462, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ɡa.ɲe\. régaler is at rank #24,017, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.ɡa.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 37479, this pair ranks #262,224 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of regagner vs régaler

Shared letters: aegr. Private to "regagner": n. Private to "régaler": lé.

"regagner" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "régaler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regagner ← ergagner · reaggner · regagenr · regaggner · regagnerr · regagnner · regagnre · reganger

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "regagner" and "régaler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.ɡa.ɲe\ versus \ʁe.ɡa.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "regagner" or "régaler" show up more?
"regagner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,462 in our French list, against #24,017 for "régaler". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "regagner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "régaler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #262,224 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "regagner" and "régaler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "régaler vs rénales". 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 #262,224 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list