arevsATMWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: are is a verb, ATM is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#6,261
“are” frequency rank
#29,934
“ATM” frequency rank
36195
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature are ATM
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de arar. Se refiere a los movimientos propios del maxilar inferior, que abarcan los cuatro planos espaciales. Arriba, Abajo, y Laterales; dependiendo que músculos están involucrados.

Where the eye mixes are and ATM

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

3 ch
are
3 ch
ATM

Look-alike desk: are vs ATM

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: are is [ˈaɾe] while ATM is [ˈat̪m]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36195, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

are is recorded at frequency rank #6,261, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɾe]. ATM is at rank #29,934, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈat̪m].

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 36195, this pair ranks #181,938 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of are vs ATM

Shared letters: a. Private to "are": er. Private to "ATM": mt.

"are" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ATM" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "are" and "ATM" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "are" is a verb and "ATM" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "are" or "ATM" show up more?
"are" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,261 in our Spanish list, against #29,934 for "ATM". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "ATM" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #181,938 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "are" and "ATM" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anta vs ATM". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #181,938 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list