esta vs ésta

I am doing lesson 4.1 and was mildly struggling with the difference between esta vs ésta. When I was researching I found that ésta is no longer considered propre Spanish and esta should always be used. Thoughts?

https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/esta-vs-esta

¡Hola Scott_C!

Thanks for your question! Indeed, using accents on demonstrative pronouns is no longer mandatory in Spanish; however, it's not incorrect to use them either. As we explain in Lesson 5.9: "Talking About 'This' and 'That'":
 

[… D]emonstrative adjectives and pronouns are exactly the same, except for one small difference: the accent marks. The accents are used purely to tell the adjectives and the pronouns apart - they do not affect the pronunciation of these words.

It should be noted that the rules have changed somewhat recently on this topic: the Real Academía Española now recommends that these accents not be used. However, this is not a set rule: the wording leaves it up to the writer. Some bodies and style guides in the Spanish-speaking world still maintain use of these accents, and we keep them in our courses for learning purposes.

So if you don't want to use the accents yourself, you don't have to! But knowing how they work may be useful. 

Saludos,

Liss

Gracias! Good to know the issue exists, thanks for including it.