estánvsestateWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“están” and “estate” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#91
“están” frequency rank
#22,006
“estate” frequency rank
22097
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature están estate
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de estar o de estarse. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del imperativo afirmativo de estarse (con el pronombre «te» enclítico).

Where the eye mixes están and estate

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

5 ch
están
6 ch
estate

Look-alike desk: están vs estate

A purely visual mix-up. están ([esˈt̪ãn]) and estate ([esˈt̪at̪e]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22097, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

están is recorded at frequency rank #91, classified as averb, pronounced [esˈt̪ãn]. estate is at rank #22,006, tagged as averb, pronounced [esˈt̪at̪e].

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 22097, this pair ranks #251,941 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of están vs estate

Shared letters: est. Private to "están": . Private to "estate": a.

"están" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "estate" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • estateesatte · esstate · estaet · estatte · esttae · esttate · etsate · setate

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "están" for "estate" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([esˈt̪ãn] versus [esˈt̪at̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "están" or "estate"?
"están" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #91 in our Spanish list, against #22,006 for "estate". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "están" and "estate" 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 "estate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #251,941 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "están" and "estate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "estate vs Esteve". 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 #251,941 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