éguavsestáConfusable pair

Quick tell: égua is a intj, está is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“égua” is an intj and “está” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,505
“égua” frequency rank
#45
“está” frequency rank
22550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature égua está
Definition expressa espanto terceira pessoa do verbo estar no presente do indicativo; indica condição temporária

Letter map: égua vs está

Shared letters muted; letters that set égua and está apart highlighted. No shared letter run. égua (VCVV) and está (VCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
égua
4 ch
está

Part-of-speech tell for égua / está

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: égua is anintj and estáaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

égua is recorded at frequency rank #22,505, classified as anintj, pronounced /ˈɛ.gwa/. está is at rank #45, tagged as averb.

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 22550, this pair ranks #47,484 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of égua vs está

Shared letters: none. Private to "égua": agué. Private to "está": está.

"égua" · 4 letters · shape VCVV  ·  "está" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "égua" for "está" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "égua" is an intj and "está" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "égua" vs "está" - which ranks higher?
"está" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45 in our Portuguese list, against #22,505 for "égua". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pair "égua" vs "está" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "égua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "está" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,484 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "égua" and "está" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "égua vs equal". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #47,484 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list