estarvsesteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: estar is a verb, este is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“estar” is a verb and “este” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#186
“estar” frequency rank
#77
“este” frequency rank
263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature estar este
Definition associa uma característica (momentânea, não permanente) a um ser relativo a alguém ou alguma coisa que esteja perto de quem fala:

Letter map: estar vs este

Shared letters muted; letters that set estar and este apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
estar
4 ch
este

Grammar separator: estar vs este

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: estar is averb and esteapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

estar is recorded at frequency rank #186, classified as averb. este is at rank #77, tagged as apron.

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 263, this pair ranks #75,372 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of estar vs este

Shared letters: est. Private to "estar": ar. Private to "este": -.

"estar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "este" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • estaresatr · esstar · estarr · estra · esttar · etsar · setar
  • esteeset · esste · estte · etse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "estar" and "este" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "estar" is a verb and "este" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "estar" or "este" show up more?
"este" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #77 in our Portuguese list, against #186 for "estar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "estar" and "este". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "estar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "este" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #75,372 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "estar" and "este" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "este 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 #75,372 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