espasavsestásTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#30,893
“espasa” frequency rank
#401
“estás” frequency rank
31294
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature espasa estás
Definition Espada. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del presente de indicativo de estar o de estarse.

Where the eye mixes espasa and estás

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. espasa runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against estás's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
espasa
5 ch
estás

Why the eye confuses espasa with estás

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: espasa is [əsˈpa.zə] while estás is [esˈt̪as]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31294, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

espasa is recorded at frequency rank #30,893, classified as anoun, pronounced [əsˈpa.zə]. estás is at rank #401, tagged as averb, pronounced [esˈt̪as].

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 31294, this pair ranks #207,800 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of espasa vs estás

Shared letters: es. Private to "espasa": ap. Private to "estás": tá.

"espasa" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "estás" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espasa ← epsasa · esapsa · espaas · espassa · esppasa · espsaa · esspasa · sepasa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "espasa" for "estás" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "espasa" is a noun and "estás" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "espasa" vs "estás" - which ranks higher?
"estás" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #401 in our Spanish list, against #30,893 for "espasa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "espasa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "estás" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #207,800 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "espasa" and "estás" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escasea vs espasa". 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 #207,800 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list