Which to use
“regards” is a noun and “retarde” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,698
- “regards” frequency rank
- #26,160
- “retarde” frequency rank
- 31858
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | regards | retarde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de regard. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de retarder. |
Where the eye mixes regards and retarde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses regards with retarde
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: regards is \ʁə.ɡaʁ\ while retarde is \ʁə.taʁd\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31858, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
regards is recorded at frequency rank #5,698, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.ɡaʁ\. 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 31858, this pair ranks #301,102 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of regards vs retarde
Shared letters: ader. Private to "regards": gs. Private to "retarde": t.
"regards" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC · "retarde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "regards" and "retarde" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "regards" or "retarde" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "regards" 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 #301,102 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "regards" 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 #301,102 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.