après vs are, What's the Difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set après and are apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

après

3 ch

are

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

après#42,342

are#4,019

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "après" and "are" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "après" is a preposition and "are" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "après" or "are"?

"are" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,019 in our German list, against #42,342 for "après". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering après vs are

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “après”; for a verb, it's “are”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “après” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable