regar vs regra, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“regar” is a verb and “regra” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,639
“regar” frequency rank: #2,594
“regra” frequency rank: 30233
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	regar	regra
Definition	molhar as plantas, terra, etc	preceito, norma ou lei

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set regar and regra apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

regar

5 ch

regra

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: regar is /Rɨ.ˈɡaɾ/ while regra is /ˈRɛ.ɡɾɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ar ↔ ra) - a transposition the eye reads straight past, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30233, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regar is recorded at frequency rank #27,639, classified as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈɡaɾ/. regra is at rank #2,594, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈRɛ.ɡɾɐ/.

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 30233, this pair ranks #38,186 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of regar vs regra

Shared letters: aegr. Private to "regar": -. Private to "regra": -.

"regar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "regra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

regar ← ergar · reagr · regarr · reggar · rgear · rregar
regra ← ergra · reggra · regrra · rerga · rgera · rregra

Frequency comparison

regar#27,639

regra#2,594

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "regar" and "regra" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "regar" is a verb and "regra" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "regar" or "regra"?

"regra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,594 in our Portuguese list, against #27,639 for "regar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering regar vs regra

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “regar”; for a noun, it's “regra”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “regar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable