estarvsevitarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“estar” and “evitar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#186
“estar” frequency rank
#1,168
“evitar” frequency rank
1354
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature estar evitar
Definition associa uma característica (momentânea, não permanente) a um ser procurar não fazer ou dizer (algo)

Letter map: estar vs evitar

Shared letters muted; letters that set estar and evitar apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
estar
6 ch
evitar

Spelling & dictionary notes on estar vs evitar

estar and evitar are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

estar is recorded at frequency rank #186, classified as averb. evitar is at rank #1,168, tagged as averb, pronounced /i.vi.ˈtaɾ/.

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 1354, this pair ranks #74,229 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of estar vs evitar

Shared letters: aert. Private to "estar": s. Private to "evitar": iv.

"estar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "evitar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • estaresatr · esstar · estarr · estra · esttar · etsar · setar
  • evitareivtar · eviatr · evitarr · evitra · evittar · evtiar · evvitar · veitar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "estar" and "evitar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "estar" or "evitar" show up more?
"estar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #186 in our Portuguese list, against #1,168 for "evitar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "estar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "evitar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,229 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "estar" and "evitar" 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 #74,229 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