Which to use
“après” is a preposition and “are” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,342
- “après” frequency rank
- #4,019
- “are” frequency rank
- 46361
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | après | are |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Relation, bei der das mitnach nach | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs be |
Where the eye mixes après and are
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. après runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against are's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: après vs are
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: après is [a.pʁɛ] while are is [ə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
après is recorded at frequency rank #42,342, classified as aprep, pronounced [a.pʁɛ]. 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 46361, this pair ranks #1,321,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of après vs are
Shared letters: ar. Private to "après": psè. Private to "are": e.
"après" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "are" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "après" for "are" ever safe?
Frequency check: "après" vs "are" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "après" and "are" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "après" 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 #1,321,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "après" and "are" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apel vs après". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,321,690 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.