are vs axe, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“are” is a verb and “axe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,019
“are” frequency rank: #45,148
“axe” frequency rank: 49167
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	are	axe
Definition	2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs be	die Axt, das Beil

Where the eye mixes are and axe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch

are

3 ch

axe

Look-alike desk: are vs axe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: are is [ə] while axe is [æks]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “are” becomes x in “axe”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49167, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

are is recorded at frequency rank #4,019, classified as averb, pronounced [ə]. axe is at rank #45,148, tagged as anoun, pronounced [æks].

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 49167, this pair ranks #1,221,637 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of are vs axe

Shared letters: ae. Private to "are": r. Private to "axe": x.

"are" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "axe" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

In ordinary German text, does "are" or "axe" show up more?

"are" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,019 in our German list, against #45,148 for "axe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

Full dictionary entry for "are" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "axe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,221,637 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"are" and "axe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "AUD vs axe". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,221,637 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.