Which to use
“esta” is a verb and “ets” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,787
- “esta” frequency rank
- #23,541
- “ets” frequency rank
- 62328
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | esta | ets |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple du verbe ester. | Eau-forte. |
Where the eye mixes esta and ets
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between esta and ets
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: esta is \ɛs.ta\ while ets is \ɛts\. 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 62328, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
esta is recorded at frequency rank #38,787, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛs.ta\. ets is at rank #23,541, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛts\.
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 62328, this pair ranks #87,713 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of esta vs ets
Shared letters: est. Private to "esta": a. Private to "ets": -.
"esta" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ets" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- esta ← essta · estta · etsa
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "esta" and "ets" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "esta" or "ets" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "esta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #87,713 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "esta" and "ets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "essay vs esta". 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 #87,713 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.