está vs ETA, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#45
“está” frequency rank: #18,862
“ETA” frequency rank: 18907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	está	ETA
Definition	terceira pessoa do verbo estar no presente do indicativo; indica condição temporária	Euskadi Ta Askatasuna ("Pátria Basca e Liberdade"), organização paramilitar que defende a independência do País Basco em relação à Espanha.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set está and ETA apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

está

3 ch

ETA

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: está is averb and ETAanabbrev. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

está is recorded at frequency rank #45, classified as averb. ETA is at rank #18,862, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced /ˈɛː.ta/.

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 18907, this pair ranks #51,966 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of está vs ETA

Shared letters: et. Private to "está": sá. Private to "ETA": a.

"está" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ETA" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

está#45

ETA#18,862

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "está" and "ETA" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "está" is a verb and "ETA" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "está" or "ETA"?

"está" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45 in our Portuguese list, against #18,862 for "ETA". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering está vs ETA

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “está”; for an abbrev, it's “ETA”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “está” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable