estarsevsestateTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,694
“estarse” frequency rank
#22,006
“estate” frequency rank
60700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature estarse estate
Definition Detenerse, tardarse o permanecer en alguna actividad, posición o lugar. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del imperativo afirmativo de estarse (con el pronombre «te» enclítico).

Where the eye mixes estarse and estate

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. estarse runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against estate's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
estarse
6 ch
estate

Visual trap between estarse and estate

A purely visual mix-up. estarse ([esˈt̪aɾse]) 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 60700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

estarse is recorded at frequency rank #38,694, classified as averb, pronounced [esˈt̪aɾse]. 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 60700, this pair ranks #58,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of estarse vs estate

Shared letters: aest. Private to "estarse": r. Private to "estate": -.

"estarse" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "estate" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • estarse ← esatrse · esstarse · estarce · estares · estarrse · estarsse · estasre · estrase
  • estate ← esatte · esstate · estaet · estatte · esttae · esttate · etsate · setate

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "estarse" and "estate" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([esˈt̪aɾse] versus [esˈt̪at̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "estarse" or "estate" show up more?
"estate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,006 in our Spanish list, against #38,694 for "estarse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "estarse" 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 #58,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "estarse" and "estate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esparce vs estarse". 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 #58,039 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