regarvsréguaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: regar is a verb, régua is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#27,639
“regar” frequency rank
#18,702
“régua” frequency rank
46341
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regar régua
Definition molhar as plantas, terra, etc instrumento de madeira, plástico ou qualquer outro material sólido com as faces planas e as arestas apropriadas para servirem de guia para se traçar linhas retas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set regar and régua apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
regar
5 ch
régua

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: regar is /Rɨ.ˈɡaɾ/ while régua is /ˈχɛ.gwə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 46341, 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/. régua is at rank #18,702, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈχɛ.gwə/.

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 46341, this pair ranks #18,983 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of regar vs régua

Shared letters: agr. Private to "regar": e. Private to "régua": .

"regar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "régua" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regarergar · reagr · regarr · reggar · rgear · rregar

Frequency comparison

regar#27,639
régua#18,702

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "regar" and "régua" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "regar" is a verb and "régua" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "regar" or "régua"?
"régua" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,702 in our Portuguese list, against #27,639 for "regar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering regar vs régua

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 “régua”.
  • 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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list