Which to use
“régner” is a verb and “runner” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,252
- “régner” frequency rank
- #24,015
- “runner” frequency rank
- 37267
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | régner | runner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Exercer le pouvoir souverain dans un État monarchique ; se dit des princes souverains, même quand ils ne portent pas le titre de roi. | Coureur à pied qui pratique le running (axé sur la recherche de la performance). |
Where the eye mixes régner and runner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: régner vs runner
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: régner is \ʁe.ɲe\ while runner is \ʁə.nœʁ\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
régner is recorded at frequency rank #13,252, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.ɲe\. runner is at rank #24,015, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.nœʁ\.
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 37267, this pair ranks #263,686 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of régner vs runner
Shared letters: enr. Private to "régner": gé. Private to "runner": u.
"régner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "runner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- runner ← rnuner · rrunner · runenr · runer · runnerr · runnre · urnner
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "régner" and "runner" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "régner" or "runner" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "régner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "runner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #263,686 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "régner" and "runner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rune vs runner". 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 #263,686 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.