are vs aw, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#19
“are” frequency rank: #5,760
“aw” frequency rank: 5779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	are	aw
Definition	second-person singular simple present of be	Used to express disappointment or dismay.

Where the eye mixes are and aw

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

are

2 ch

Visual trap between are and aw

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: are is /ə(ɹ)/ while aw is /ɔː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5779, 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)/. aw is at rank #5,760, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ɔː/.

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 5779, this pair ranks #514,045 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of are vs aw

Shared letters: a. Private to "are": er. Private to "aw": w.

"are" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "aw" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

In ordinary English text, does "are" or "aw" show up more?

"are" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19 in our English list, against #5,760 for "aw". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "are" and "aw" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "are" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "aw" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #514,045 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"are" and "aw" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amb vs aw". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #514,045 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.