Which to use
“regarda” and “retarde” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,540
- “regarda” frequency rank
- #26,160
- “retarde” frequency rank
- 43700
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | regarda | retarde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de regarder. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de retarder. |
Where the eye mixes regarda and retarde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. regarda and retarde follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses regarda with retarde
A purely visual mix-up. regarda (\ʁə.ɡaʁ.da\) and retarde (\ʁə.taʁd\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
regarda is recorded at frequency rank #17,540, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ɡaʁ.da\. retarde is at rank #26,160, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.taʁd\.
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 43700, this pair ranks #216,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of regarda vs retarde
Shared letters: ader. Private to "regarda": g. Private to "retarde": t.
"regarda" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "retarde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "regarda" for "retarde" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "regarda" or "retarde" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "regarda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retarde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "regarda" and "retarde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reparlé vs retarde". 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 #216,110 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.