are
/ə/UK/ɛə/
are is the second-person singular simple present of be.
are is the first-person plural simple present of be.
are is the second-person plural simple present of be.
are is the third-person plural simple present of be.
are is the present of be.
are is the misspelling of our.
Meaning of be
Verb
be (highly irregular—See conjugation table)
- Used with past participles of verbs to form the passive voice.
- The dog was saved by the boy.
- Used with present participles of verbs to form the continuous aspect.
- The woman is walking.
- Used with to-infinitives of verbs to express intent, obligation, appropriateness, or relative future occurrence.
- I am to leave tomorrow.
- Used with past participles of certain intransitive verbs to form the perfect aspect.
- He is finished.
- To tend to do, often do; marks the habitual aspect.
- Women be shoppin’! You cannot stop a woman from shoppin’!1996, David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein, Tom Shadyac and Steve Oedekerk, screenplay of The Nutty Professor
- To exist.
- There is just one woman in town who can help us.
Meaning of our
Determiner
our (first-person plural possessive determiner)
- Belonging to us, excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive our).
- Sorry, you're not invited to our party.
- Belonging to us, including the person(s) being addressed (inclusive our).
- We must try to save our marriage for the sake of our children.
- Of, from, or belonging to any entity that the speaker is a part of or identifies with, such as place of employment or education, nation, region, language, etc.
- Our safety record at ABC Widgets is very good.
- Belonging to people in general.
- As we get older, our reactions get slower.
- Belonging to everyone being addressed.
- How are we all tonight? Have we got our happy faces on?
- Belonging to an individual being addressed; used especially of a person in the speaker's care, or to whom advice or instruction is being given.
- How are we feeling this morning, Mrs Miggins? Have we taken our tablets yet?
Noun (1)
are (plural ares)
Noun (2) capitalized: ARE
ARE (plural AREs)
- Initialism of advance reader’s edition.
Proper noun (1) capitalized: ARE
ARE
- Initialism of Arab Republic of Egypt.
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Are
Are
- A village in Saaremaa, Saare County, Estonia.
Synonyms of are
- square decametre
- art
Forms of are
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete, dialectal) | aren |
| alternative form (obsolete, dialectal) | arn |
| alternative form (obsolete) | ar |
| Noun | |
| plural | ares |
| plural | AREs |
Origin of are
From Middle English aren, from Old English (Anglian) earun, earon (“are”, plural). Possibly reinforced by the Old Norse plural forms in er-, this displaced the alternative forms Old English sind and bēoþ. In the second person singular it displaced archaic art. Further etymology controversial: * The English forms, as well as the Old Swedish forms in ær-, could reflect Proto-Germanic preterite-present *ōr ~ *arum, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃e-h₃ór-h₂e (“I have risen”, perfect). * Since they are not the expected outcomes of the Proto-Germanic forms of *wesaną (“to be”) in *iz-, they would have to be irregular alterations. For Seebold this explanation is still preferable as similar variants in other verbs are not uncommon.
From French are.
From the phonetic similarity between our and are in many English dialects (both /ɑː(ɹ)/).
Words formed from are
Phrases with are
- odds are
- there are
- are you OK
- chances are
- here we are
- how are you
- who are you
- are you deaf
- here you are
- where are we
- are you blind
- right you are
166 more phrasesFewer phrases
- there you are
- where are you
- are we deadass
- are you single
- fans are slans
- gloves are off
- how are things
- all eyes are on
- are you married
- how old are you
- rules are rules
- you are welcome
- all bets are off
- are we there yet
- dogs are barking
- ears are burning
- today we are all
- are you religious
- how are you doing
- how are you going
- orders are orders
- stars are aligned
- what are the odds
- what are you like
- are bears Catholic
- the knives are out
- what are you doing
- wheels are turning
- where are we going
- where are you from
- you are the doctor
- all rumors are true
- how are you keeping
- my eyes are up here
- we are where we are
- who are you telling
- diamonds are forever
- how are you diddling
- the drinks are on me
- what are friends for
- what are you smoking
- you are what you eat
- are your ears burning
- my teeth are floating
- one's lips are sealed
- spitters are quitters
- sure as eggs are eggs
- where are the toilets
- all cats are beautiful
- all politics are local
- are you feeling better
- the British are coming
- the girls are fighting
- what are your pronouns
- one's days are numbered
- what are you looking at
- when the chips are down
- are the Kennedys gun-shy
- are you a man or a mouse
- are you sure you're sure
- as sure as eggs are eggs
- hunt where the ducks are
- shallow brooks are noisy
- start from where you are
- stuff dreams are made of
- the natives are restless
- the way things are going
- what are you waiting for
- who do you think you are
- appearances are deceptive
- how are you getting along
- hunts where the ducks are
- I am rubber, you are glue
- ill doers are ill deemers
- the vultures are circling
- all cats are gray at night
- all cats are grey at night
- all cats are grey by night
- hunted where the ducks are
- my back teeth are floating
- opinions are like assholes
- the grapes are sour anyway
- women are wonderful effect
- hunting where the ducks are
- meet someone where they are
- rules are made to be broken
- someone's headlights are on
- I know you are but what am I
- meets someone where they are
- one's fingers are all thumbs
- rules are meant to be broken
- rules are there to be broken
- all cats are gray in the dark
- all cats are grey in the dark
- there are no stupid questions
- two heads are better than one
- all your base are belong to us
- are you taking any medications
- drunk words are sober thoughts
- go hunting where the ducks are
- hit someone when they are down
- meeting someone where they are
- wherever you go, there you are
- you are never too old to learn
- are you doing anything tomorrow
- hits someone when they are down
- kick someone when they are down
- the streets are paved with gold
- drunken words are sober thoughts
- idle hands are the devil's tools
- kicks someone when they are down
- know where the bodies are buried
- loss and gain are brothers twain
- the best things in life are free
- the natives are getting restless
- these words are not in the Bible
- be fearful when others are greedy
- be greedy when others are fearful
- diamonds are a girl's best friend
- knows where the bodies are buried
- strike someone when they are down
- there are many ways to skin a cat
- there are no atheists in foxholes
- there are two ends to every stick
- where are the snows of yesteryear
- hitting someone when they are down
- kicking someone when they are down
- sticks in a bundle are unbreakable
- strikes someone when they are down
- there are two sides to every story
- where are the snows of yester-year
- are you allergic to any medications
- idle hands are the devil's workshop
- knowing where the bodies are buried
- striking someone when they are down
- the eyes are the window to the soul
- the lights are on but no one's home
- the lights are on but nobody's home
- there are plenty of fish in the sea
- a fool and his money are soon parted
- none of these words are in the Bible
- the lights are on, but nobody's home
- idle hands are the devil's playthings
- there are bad apples in every orchard
- there are plenty more fish in the sea
- there are two sides to every question
- a fool and his money are easily parted
- at church every time the doors are open
- in church every time the doors are open
- revolutions are not made with rosewater
- the odds are good, but the goods are odd
- there are more horses' asses than horses
- there are plenty of pebbles on the beach
- the cobbler's children are the worst shod
- there are plenty more pebbles on the beach
- given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow
- is that what the kids are calling it these days
- who are you and what have you done with someone
- by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail
- render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's
- there are none so blind as those who will not see
- there are none so deaf as those who will not hear
- the apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest
- is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me
- all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others
- for what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful
Words that rhyme with are
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- char
- tar
- var
- AAR
- bazaar
- caviar
- lodestar
- Mullingar
- Myanmar
- scar
- ajar
- arr
- barre
- boudoir
- cigar
- cymar
- czar
- disbar
- gar
- guitar
- haar
- instar
- lar
- Loire
- noir
- NPR
- omar
- schwar
- their
- tl;dr
- tsar
- TTR
- upbar
- USSR
- yar
- -dar
- AGR
- alcazar
- armoire
- au revoir
- bahar
- baignoire
- Bashar
- beaux-arts
- beer bar
- Berger Picard
- Bihar
- bête noire
Questions about are
- What does are mean?
- Are means an accepted (but deprecated and rarely used) metric unit of area equal to 100 square metres, or a former unit of approximately the same extent. Symbol: a.
- What is are the second-person singular simple present of?
- Are is the second-person singular simple present of be.
- What part of speech is are?
- Are can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce are?
- Are is pronounced /ə/.
- What is the plural of are?
- The plural of are is ares.
Words near are in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: are (page history and authors); ARE (page history and authors); Are (page history and authors); be (page history and authors); our (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-are.ogg.
Cite this entry: “are.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/are. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.