sta vs su, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#14,015
“sta” frequency rank: #20
“su” frequency rank: 14035
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sta	su
Definition	Forma del femenino de sto: «esta».	Adjetivo posesivo de la tercera persona; de él, de ella, de ellos, de ellas.

Where the eye mixes sta and su

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

sta

2 ch

Why the eye confuses sta with su

A purely visual mix-up. sta (/ˈsta/) and su ([su]) 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 14035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sta is recorded at frequency rank #14,015, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsta/. su is at rank #20, tagged as anadj, pronounced [su].

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 14035, this pair ranks #285,642 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sta vs su

Shared letters: s. Private to "sta": at. Private to "su": u.

"sta" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "su" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sta" and "su" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They are said differently (/ˈsta/ versus [su]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

In ordinary Spanish text, does "sta" or "su" show up more?

"su" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20 in our Spanish list, against #14,015 for "sta". 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 "sta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "su" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #285,642 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"sta" and "su" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sta vs stem". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #285,642 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.