Which to use
“es” is a pronoun and “está” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,631
- “es” frequency rank
- #45
- “está” frequency rank
- 2676
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | es | está |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ele, ela, aquilo, pronome da terceira pessoa do neutro singular do caso nominativo. | terceira pessoa do verbo estar no presente do indicativo; indica condição temporária |
Letter map: es vs está
Shared letters muted; letters that set es and está apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Part-of-speech tell for es / está
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: es is apronoun and estáaverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “es” sits inside “está”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2676, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
es is recorded at frequency rank #2,631, classified as apron, pronounced /'ɛs/ ouvir ^(fonte ?). 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 2676, this pair ranks #72,627 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of es vs está
Shared letters: es. Private to "es": -. Private to "está": tá.
"es" · 2 letters · shape VC · "está" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "es" for "está" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "es" or "está" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pair "es" vs "está" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "es" 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 #72,627 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "es" and "está" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ear vs es". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #72,627 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.