Which to use
“están” is a verb and “estante” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #91
- “están” frequency rank
- #26,832
- “estante” frequency rank
- 26923
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | están | estante |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de estar o de estarse. | Mueble con anaqueles o entrepaños y sin puertas, que sirve para colocar libros, papeles u otras cosas. |
Where the eye mixes están and estante
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. están runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against estante's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses están with estante
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: están is [esˈt̪ãn] while estante is [esˈt̪ãn̪t̪e]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26923, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
están is recorded at frequency rank #91, classified as averb, pronounced [esˈt̪ãn]. estante is at rank #26,832, tagged as anoun, pronounced [esˈt̪ãn̪t̪e].
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 26923, this pair ranks #229,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of están vs estante
Shared letters: enst. Private to "están": á. Private to "estante": a.
"están" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "estante" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- estante ← esatnte · esstante · estanet · estannte · estantte · estatne · estnate · esttante
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "están" and "estante" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "están" vs "estante" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "están" and "estante" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "están" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "estante" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "están" and "estante" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "estanca vs estante". 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 #229,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.