Several of the methods used to estimate actual evapotranspiration (ET a ) consider the crop evapotranspiration (ET c ) to be affected by a soil water stress co-efficient (K s ) such that ET a = K s ET c . The aim of this study was to assess the ET a estimation in maize in Alagoas State (09 ∘ 38 ′ S and 36 ∘ 40 ′ W; 260 m msl) in northeastern Brazil using the method of the single crop co-efficient from the FAO-56 paper, combined with three different approaches to determine K s . The K s was expressed as either a linear (K s,lin ) or a logarithmic (K s,log ) function of the soil water depletion. Additionally, the method proposed in the FAO-56 (K s,FAO ) was used when the impact was linear, but it was switched on after only one offset. Meteorological and soil water measurements were conducted in a maize crop from July to October 2005. The estimates of ET a were compared with the ET a determined from soil water balance. The ET a estimated with K s,lin had the highest precision (r 2 = 0.67) and accuracy (d = 0.89 and root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.67 mm d −1 ). However, the ET a determined from