Which to use
“arb” is a noun and “are” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,311
- “arb” frequency rank
- #19
- “are” frequency rank
- 46330
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arb | are |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of or potential for arbitrage. | second-person singular simple present of be |
Letter map: arb vs are
Shared letters muted; letters that set arb and are apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Part-of-speech tell for arb / are
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: arb is anoun and areaverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - b in “arb” becomes e in “are”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arb is recorded at frequency rank #46,311, classified as anoun. are is at rank #19, tagged as averb, pronounced /ə(ɹ)/.
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 46330, this pair ranks #212,823 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of arb vs are
Shared letters: ar. Private to "arb": b. Private to "are": e.
"arb" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "are" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "arb" for "are" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "arb" or "are" show up more?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "arb" and "are".
- Full dictionary entry for "arb" 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 #212,823 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arb" and "are" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amb vs arb". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #212,823 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.