"ésta" vs "está"

Question

What are the differences between "ésta" and "está" in pronunciation and meaning?

Answer 1

Look at the placement of the accent mark. The accent mark serves two purposes in Spanish.

First, accent marks denote stress in words. Say the word "establishment" to yourself. The syllable "stab" is, shall we say, "punched" more than the rest of them. But, they only way you'd know where that stress is in English is to have it memorized. In Spanish, however, stressed syllables that don't follow the rules are marked with an accent.

Take, for instance, your example word "está" (which comes from the verb "estar"). The stress rules dictate that the stress should be on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable (/'e?s.ta/) because the word ends in a vowel. However, since the a is accented, the stress falls on that syllable (/e?s'ta/).

Second, accents are used to differentiate between words that are spelled the same. "Êsta" and "esta" are spelled the same, and they sound the same, so the accent is there to inform a reader which word they're reading. They both mean "this," but "ésta" is a pronoun, whereas "esta" is a demonstrative adjective. Compare this to the English words "saw" and "saw." You can't tell just by looking at them whether the expressed idea is "the action of cutting using a saw" or the past tense of the verb "to see."

However, I believe that the example of "éste/ésta" and "este/esta" will soon grow outdated because, as I recall, the RAE has said that it's no longer necessary to use the accent to differentiate between those specific words.

(except when it is ambiguous as to which it is, then the pronoun still carries the accent mark.) Just to nit-pick: you contrasted ésta (pron) anb esta (adj). The question was about ésta (pron) and está (the verb). - 0074b507, Aug 3, 2011

Q, he gave both examples. 1) differentiating what syllable is stressed (esta vs está) and 2) differentiating words that are spelled/pronounced the same (ésta vs esta). - gintar77, Aug 3, 2011

They don't sound the same, the emphasis falls on different syllables. - pescador1, Aug 3, 2011

This seemed like something of a homework question to me (due to another question with eerily similar wording). So I thought it better to provide information to allow the poster to come up with their own answer. Teach a person to fish... - freeze10108, Aug 3, 2011

pescador1: esta and ésta sound the same. It's esta, ésta and está that sound different. - 0074b507, Aug 3, 2011

gritar-so he did. My apologies to freeze. - 0074b507, Aug 3, 2011

Hey Q, don't worry about it! :-) - freeze10108, Aug 3, 2011

I don't agree. From working in a restaurant everyday and speaking with tons of Spanish there is a - pescador1, Aug 3, 2011

definite difference. All the time I hear things like ¿este plato o éste? There is a lot more stress on the second. - pescador1, Aug 3, 2011

It is like como and cómo. Here is something that will throw you for a loop:¿ Como él ya sabe todo lo que yo como, cómo podría ocurrírsele dejar de comprar comida? - pescador1, Aug 3, 2011

Three different accentuations on "como" in the same sentence, and two don't even have an accent! - pescador1, Aug 3, 2011

I believe that the difference that's heard in that phrase is due to the placement of "éste" after a word ending in a vowel (particularly /o̞/ creating the need to throw the voice from the back to near front, thus emphasizing the /e̞/) - freeze10108, Aug 3, 2011

and due to the word itself being emphasized to juxtapose the two options. - freeze10108, Aug 3, 2011

It's all to do with inflection of a sentence, letting one know that it is or is not a question. It's not pronunciation that changed, but the quality of the voice. - freeze10108, Aug 3, 2011

The accent wouldn't be there if it wasn't intended! The accent determines what is heard. Do you really think words like aun and aún sound the same. They don't. There is a difference. Thats phonetics. - pescador1, Aug 3, 2011

Inflection is what accents indicate! - pescador1, Aug 3, 2011

Yes, I know "aun" and "aún" don't sound the same. I'm saying specifically that the words you brought up, "éste" and "este"; and "como," "como," and "cómo" are pronounced the same. The tilde denotes stress and differentiates homographs. - freeze10108, Aug 3, 2011

If someone were to sarcastically say a word in English or emphasize one in a sentence, the pronunciation did not change. The inflection did. - freeze10108, Aug 3, 2011

you are speaking about intonation (saying one word louder or a different pitch,than another, not stress) like in English when we make a question out of a delcaration just using intonation. - 0074b507, Aug 3, 2011

aún and aun is altogether different. Here the accent mark "breaks a diphthong" making one syllable aun into 2 syllable a ún. - 0074b507, Aug 3, 2011

Note that we don't use circumflex accent, i.e., there is no "Êsta" in Spanish, but "Ésta" - LexLythius, Mar 21, 2012

Answer 2

These have very different meanings, and they sound very different phonetically as well. Ésta - this one, está - the state of you, he, she, it.

Answer 3

ésta (pronounced ES-ta)= this one (when you are describing a feminine noun)

está (pronounced es-TA)= is (third person singular present tense of estar; él / ella está) or you are (formal; usted está)

The difference in pronounciation it that in ésta the first syllable is stressed (said with more force) and in está the last syllable is stressed.

Hope this helped

Answer 4

Esta, when used as a pronoun does not heve an accent.

Answer 5

How about:

ÉS ta and es TÁ

and

(diacritical/pronounced the same)

ÉS ta and Es ta