Which to use
“ages” is a noun and “are” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,682
- “ages” frequency rank
- #4,019
- “are” frequency rank
- 52701
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ages | are |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plural des Substantivs age | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs be |
Where the eye mixes ages and are
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ages vs are
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ages is [ˈeɪdʒɪz] while are is [ə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ages is recorded at frequency rank #48,682, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈeɪdʒɪz]. are is at rank #4,019, tagged as averb, pronounced [ə].
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 52701, this pair ranks #1,086,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ages vs are
Shared letters: ae. Private to "ages": gs. Private to "are": r.
"ages" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "are" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ages ← aegs · agess · agges
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ages" and "are" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ages" or "are"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ages" and "are" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ages" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "are" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,086,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ages" and "are" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ages vs avis". 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 #1,086,645 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.