Which to use
“régua” is a noun and “regular” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,702
- “régua” frequency rank
- #3,285
- “regular” frequency rank
- 21987
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | régua | regular |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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 | que ocorre em intervalos igualmente espaçados de tempo ou espaço |
Where the eye mixes régua and regular
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: régua vs regular
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: régua is /ˈχɛ.gwə/ while regular is /Rɨ.ɡu.ˈlaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 21987, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
régua is recorded at frequency rank #18,702, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈχɛ.gwə/. regular is at rank #3,285, tagged as anadj, pronounced /Rɨ.ɡu.ˈlaɾ/.
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 21987, this pair ranks #48,160 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of régua vs regular
Shared letters: agru. Private to "régua": é. Private to "regular": el.
"régua" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "regular" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- regular ← ergular · reggular · regluar · regualr · regularr · regullar · regulra · reuglar
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "régua" and "regular" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "régua" or "regular"?
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 "régua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "regular" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,160 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "régua" and "regular" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reger vs régua". 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 #48,160 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.