Which to use
“are” is a verb and “Ariel” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19
- “are” frequency rank
- #14,066
- “Ariel” frequency rank
- 14085
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | are | Ariel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | second-person singular simple present of be | A name for the city of Jerusalem, the claimed (and de-facto) capital city of modern Israel, and the claimed capital city of modern Palestine. |
Where the eye mixes are and Ariel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between are and Ariel
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: are is /ə(ɹ)/ while Ariel is /ˈɛɹiəl/. 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 (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
are is recorded at frequency rank #19, classified as averb, pronounced /ə(ɹ)/. Ariel is at rank #14,066, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈɛɹiəl/.
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 14085, this pair ranks #472,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of are vs Ariel
Shared letters: aer. Private to "are": -. Private to "Ariel": il.
"are" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "Ariel" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Ariel ← airel · areil · ariell · arile · arriel · raiel
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "are" and "Ariel" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "are" vs "Ariel" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "are" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Ariel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #472,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "are" and "Ariel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ariel vs aris". 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 #472,135 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.