aren'tvsarentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aren't is a verb, arent is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aren't” is a verb and “arent” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#941
“aren't” frequency rank
#14,465
“arent” frequency rank
15406
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aren't arent
Definition are not (negative auxiliary) Drying out, parching, withering.

Where the eye mixes aren't and arent

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
aren't
5 ch
arent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aren't is /ɑːnt/ while arent is /ˈɑːɹɛnt/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15406, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aren't is recorded at frequency rank #941, classified as averb, pronounced /ɑːnt/. arent is at rank #14,465, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɑːɹɛnt/.

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 15406, this pair ranks #464,154 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aren't vs arent

Shared letters: aenrt. Private to "aren't": -. Private to "arent": -.

"aren't" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "arent" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arentaernt · arennt · arentt · aretn · arnet · arrent · raent

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aren't" and "arent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aren't" is a verb and "arent" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aren't" or "arent"?
"aren't" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #941 in our English list, against #14,465 for "arent". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list