Which to use
“regain” and “relai” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,575
- “regain” frequency rank
- #32,558
- “relai” frequency rank
- 51133
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | regain | relai |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Herbe qui repousse dans les prés après qu’ils ont été fauchés. | Action de relayer : résultat de cette action. |
Where the eye mixes regain and relai
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. regain runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against relai's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses regain with relai
A purely visual mix-up. regain (\ʁə.ɡɛ̃\) and relai (\ʁə.lɛ\) 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 51133, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
regain is recorded at frequency rank #18,575, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.ɡɛ̃\. relai is at rank #32,558, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.lɛ\.
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 51133, this pair ranks #157,325 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of regain vs relai
Shared letters: aeir. Private to "regain": gn. Private to "relai": l.
"regain" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "relai" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "regain" and "relai" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "regain" or "relai" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "regain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "relai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,325 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "regain" and "relai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "relai vs relit". 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 #157,325 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.