regovsretroWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: rego is a noun, retro is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“rego” is a noun and “retro” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,864
“rego” frequency rank
#24,145
“retro” frequency rank
46009
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rego retro
Definition sulco que abre o arado que tem traço aspectual que remonta ou é similar a de coisa que já foi comum, vigente ou generalizado em tempo passado

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
rego
5 ch
retro

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rego is /ˈRe.ɡu/ while retro is /ˈχɛ.tɾʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rego is recorded at frequency rank #21,864, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈRe.ɡu/. retro is at rank #24,145, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈχɛ.tɾʊ/.

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 46009, this pair ranks #19,359 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rego vs retro

Shared letters: eor. Private to "rego": g. Private to "retro": t.

"rego" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "retro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regoergo · reggo · reog · rgeo · rrego
  • retroertro · rerto · retor · retrro · rettro · rretro · rtero

Frequency comparison

rego#21,864
retro#24,145

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rego" and "retro" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rego" is a noun and "retro" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rego" or "retro"?
"rego" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,864 in our Portuguese list, against #24,145 for "retro". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rego vs retro

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “rego”; for an adjective, it's “retro”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rego” 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