esstvsEsteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#29,114
“esst” frequency rank
#32,023
“Este” frequency rank
61137
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature esst Este
Definition 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs essen Staatsbürger von Estland

Where the eye mixes esst and Este

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
esst
4 ch
Este

Visual trap between esst and Este

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: esst is [ɛst] while Este is [ˈeːstə]. 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 61137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

esst is recorded at frequency rank #29,114, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛst]. Este is at rank #32,023, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈeːstə].

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 61137, this pair ranks #760,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of esst vs Este

Shared letters: est. Private to "esst": -. Private to "Este": -.

"esst" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "Este" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • esstesstt · eßt
  • Esteeset · esste · estte · etse · sete

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "esst" and "Este" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "esst" is a verb and "Este" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "esst" or "Este"?
"esst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,114 in our German list, against #32,023 for "Este". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "esst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Este" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #760,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "esst" and "Este" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Esra vs Este". 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 #760,945 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list