régalervsregarderWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,017
“régaler” frequency rank
#776
“regarder” frequency rank
24793
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature régaler regarder
Definition Donner un régal, offrir un plaisir de table. Porter ses regards sur quelque chose ou quelqu’un.

Where the eye mixes régaler and regarder

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

7 ch
régaler
8 ch
regarder

Look-alike desk: régaler vs regarder

A purely visual mix-up. régaler (\ʁe.ɡa.le\) and regarder (\ʁə.ɡaʁ.de\) 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 24793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

régaler is recorded at frequency rank #24,017, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.ɡa.le\. regarder is at rank #776, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ɡaʁ.de\.

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 24793, this pair ranks #344,577 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of régaler vs regarder

Shared letters: aegr. Private to "régaler": . Private to "regarder": d.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regarderergarder · reagrder · regadrer · regardder · regarderr · regardre · regaredr · regarrder

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "régaler" for "regarder" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.ɡa.le\ versus \ʁə.ɡaʁ.de\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "régaler" or "regarder"?
"regarder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #776 in our French list, against #24,017 for "régaler". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "régaler" and "regarder" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "régaler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "regarder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #344,577 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "régaler" and "regarder" 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 #344,577 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