régionsvsreinsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,421
“régions” frequency rank
#10,059
“reins” frequency rank
11480
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature régions reins
Definition Pluriel de région. Pluriel de rein.

Where the eye mixes régions and reins

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. régions runs 7 letters (CVCVVCC) against reins's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
régions
5 ch
reins

Why the eye confuses régions with reins

A purely visual mix-up. régions (\ʁe.ʒjɔ̃\) and reins (\ʁɛ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11480, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

régions is recorded at frequency rank #1,421, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.ʒjɔ̃\. reins is at rank #10,059, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛ̃\.

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 11480, this pair ranks #408,993 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of régions vs reins

Shared letters: inrs. Private to "régions": goé. Private to "reins": e.

"régions" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC  ·  "reins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reins ← erins · reinns · reinss · reisn · renis · rreins

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "régions" for "reins" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.ʒjɔ̃\ versus \ʁɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "régions" or "reins"?
"régions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,421 in our French list, against #10,059 for "reins". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "régions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #408,993 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "régions" and "reins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reins vs Reis". 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 #408,993 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