Which to use
“est” is a noun and “estar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,876
- “est” frequency rank
- #186
- “estar” frequency rank
- 7062
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | est | estar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | leste: | associa uma característica (momentânea, não permanente) a um ser |
Letter map: est vs estar
Shared letters muted; letters that set est and estar apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Part-of-speech tell for est / estar
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: est is anoun and estaraverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “est” sits inside “estar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
est is recorded at frequency rank #6,876, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɛst/. estar is at rank #186, 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 7062, this pair ranks #67,183 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of est vs estar
Shared letters: est. Private to "est": -. Private to "estar": ar.
"est" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "estar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- estar ← esatr · esstar · estarr · estra · esttar · etsar · setar
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "est" and "estar" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "est" or "estar"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "est" and "estar".
- Full dictionary entry for "est" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "estar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #67,183 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "est" and "estar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escoar vs estar". 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 #67,183 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.