are

/ə(ɹ)/

//ə(ɹ)// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"are" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“are” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #19) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#19
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - second-person singular simple present of be

Corpus desk

Index EN-are · are · English

are · rank #19 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #19
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH as

Nearest frequency peer: as (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “are”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “are” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

are vs as
33% similar
are vs at
33% similar
are vs aw
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for are
PropertyValue
Headwordare
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ə(ɹ)/
Letters3
Frequency rank#19
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “are” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).arelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “as” (#18), “have” (#20), “be” (#17). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for are is neighbouring look-alikes ("as", "at", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /ə(ɹ)/. Frequency #19 among 3,931 “A” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Zero misspellings are on record for are in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "as", "at", "aw", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti Proto-Germanic *izi Proto-Germanic *arun Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun Old English earon Middle English aren English are From Middle English aren, from Old English earun, earon (“are”), rein… The correct English form is are, spelled A-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    second-person singular simple present of be
  2. 2
    first-person plural simple present of be
  3. 3
    second-person plural simple present of be
  4. 4
    third-person plural simple present of be
  5. 5
    present of be

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how are appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Mary, where are you going?
  2. We are not coming.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti Proto-Germanic *izi Proto-Germanic *arun Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun Old English earon Middle English aren English are From Middle English aren, from Old English earun, earon (“are”), reinforced by Old Norse plural forms in er- (displacing alternative Old English sind and bēoþ), from Proto-Germanic *arun (“(they) are”), from Proto-Germanic *esi/*izi (a form of Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti (“is”). Cognate with Old Norse eru (“(they) are”) (> Icelandic eru (“(they) are”), Swedish äro (“(they) are”), Danish er (“(they) are”)), Old English eart (“(thou) art”). More at art.

Synonyms

art

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "are"?
"are" is spelled A-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ə(ɹ)/.
What does "are" mean?
As a verb, "are" means: second-person singular simple present of be
What words are commonly confused with "are"?
"are" is commonly confused with "as", "at", "aw". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "are"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "are" is /ə(ɹ)/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "are"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti Proto-Germanic *izi Proto-Germanic *arun Proto-West Germanic *wāʀun Old English earon Middle English aren English are From Middle English aren, from Old English earun, earon (“a... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "are", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

was#16not#23but#25you#11

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list