Which to use
“esse” is a pronoun and “está” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #83
- “esse” frequency rank
- #45
- “está” frequency rank
- 128
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | esse | está |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pronome demonstrativo que designa indivíduo ou objeto afastado de quem fala e próxima da pessoa com quem se fala: | terceira pessoa do verbo estar no presente do indicativo; indica condição temporária |
Letter map: esse vs está
Shared letters muted; letters that set esse and está apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: esse vs está
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: esse is apronoun and estáaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 128, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
esse is recorded at frequency rank #83, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈe.sɪ/. 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 128, this pair ranks #75,532 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of esse vs está
Shared letters: es. Private to "esse": -. Private to "está": tá.
"esse" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "está" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- esse ← ese · eses · sese
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "esse" and "está" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "esse" vs "está" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "esse" vs "está" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "esse" 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 #75,532 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "esse" and "está" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esse vs être". 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 #75,532 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.