are

¹ American  

[ahr, er] / ɑr, ər /

verb

1. present indicative plural and 2nd person singular of be.

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are ² American  

[air, ahr] / ɛər, ɑr /

noun

1. a measure of surface area: 1 are is equal to 1/100 (0.01) of a hectare (100 square meters or 119.6 square yards). a

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are ¹ British  

/ ɑː, ə /

verb

1. the plural form of the present tense (indicative mood) of the verb `be' and the singular form used with you

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are ² British  

/ ɑː /

noun

1.  a.  a unit of area equal to 100 sq metres or 119.599 sq yards; one hundredth of a hectare

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Etymology

Origin of are¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English aren, are, arn, Old English (Northumbrian) aron; cognate with Old Norse eru, 3rd person plural; replacing Old English bēoth, sind; cf. art ²

Origin of are²

First recorded in 1810–20; from French, from Latin ārea “vacant piece of level ground, open space in a town, threshing floor”; see area

Explanation

Are is the plural of "is" and "am," a form of the most common verb "be." He is going, but we are going. Are is also used with you, as in, "Are you going to the movies?" In English, the forms of be break down like this: "I am; you are; he is; we are; they are; you (more than one of you) are." Are, of course, is only used when you are talking about things that are happening now. When they already happened, the word is were: we are here now, but we were there yesterday. Are is also a metric measurement equal to 100 square meters, but the unit is rarely used these days.

Example Sentences

Are you planning to buy the SpaceX IPO?

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

“Are homes equipped with grip bars and nonslip floors? Are common areas and green spaces well maintained?”

From MarketWatch • Jun. 5, 2026

Appeared in the June 6, 2026, print edition as 'Why Restaurants Are Charging $40 for Chicken'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Over the past six months, her condition has deteriorated significantly, Prof Are Holm, a lung specialist at Oslo University Hospital, was quoted by the royal household as saying.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026

“Come on, Cobraman, let’s fly. Or are you going to see her? I can’t believe it. Will you let it go? The Cobra. Are you the Cobraman or not?”

From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott