regardévsretarderWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,692
“regardé” frequency rank
#12,466
“retarder” frequency rank
15158
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regardé retarder
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de regarder. Différer ; temporiser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set regardé and retarder apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
regardé
8 ch
retarder

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. regardé (\ʁə.ɡaʁ.de\) and retarder (\ʁə.taʁ.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 15158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regardé is recorded at frequency rank #2,692, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ɡaʁ.de\. retarder is at rank #12,466, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.taʁ.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 15158, this pair ranks #393,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of regardé vs retarder

Shared letters: ader. Private to "regardé": . Private to "retarder": t.

"regardé" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "retarder" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retarderertarder · reatrder · retadrer · retardder · retarderr · retardre · retaredr · retarrder

Frequency comparison

regardé#2,692
retarder#12,466

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "regardé" and "retarder" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.ɡaʁ.de\ versus \ʁə.taʁ.de\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "regardé" or "retarder"?
"regardé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,692 in our French list, against #12,466 for "retarder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering regardé vs retarder

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “regardé” 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