estásvsestrésTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#401
“estás” frequency rank
#5,001
“estrés” frequency rank
5402
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature estás estrés
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del presente de indicativo de estar o de estarse. Tensión o presión emocional que, experimentada de forma reiterada e intensa, puede producir patologías diversas, a veces graves.

Where the eye mixes estás and estrés

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
estás
6 ch
estrés

Look-alike desk: estás vs estrés

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: estás is [esˈt̪as] while estrés is [esˈt̪ɾes]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5402, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

estás is recorded at frequency rank #401, classified as averb, pronounced [esˈt̪as]. estrés is at rank #5,001, tagged as anoun, pronounced [esˈt̪ɾes].

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 5402, this pair ranks #313,715 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of estás vs estrés

Shared letters: est. Private to "estás": á. Private to "estrés": .

"estás" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "estrés" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "estás" for "estrés" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "estás" is a verb and "estrés" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "estás" vs "estrés" - which ranks higher?
"estás" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #401 in our Spanish list, against #5,001 for "estrés". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "estás" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "estrés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #313,715 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "estás" and "estrés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esteros vs estrés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #313,715 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