Phonics word list

Are words

In short

Are spells /air/ when it ends a word: care, share and square. In the word are itself, it says /ar/. Our checked list has 87 words where are says /air/.

At a glance

Words in our list: 87
By syllables: one syllable: 47 · two syllables: 30 · three or more syllables: 10
Taught in: Lesson 112 in the sequence

One spelling, more than one sound

Most lists mix these up. We count each sound separately, so a student practicing one sound only sees words that make it.

How many words in our list spell each sound with are
Sound	Example	Words	List
/air/	care	87	This page
/ar/	are	87	This page

Are words, most common first

Spelling units show how each word breaks into the letters that spell one sound; a_e is a vowel and silent e working together. Readable after is the first lesson where a student can sound out the whole word.

One syllable

47 words, most common first.

One syllable
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
care	c·are	1	Lesson 112
dare	d·are	1	Lesson 112
rare	r·are	1	Lesson 112
cares	c·are·s	1	Lesson 112
share	sh·are	1	Lesson 112
spare	s·p·are	1	Lesson 112
shared	sh·are·d	1	Lesson 112
shares	sh·are·s	1	Lesson 112
square	s·qu·are	1	Lesson 112
bare	b·are	1	Lesson 112
fare	f·are	1	Lesson 112
cared	c·are·d	1	Lesson 112
dared	d·are·d	1	Lesson 112
dares	d·are·s	1	Lesson 112
scare	s·c·are	1	Lesson 112
stare	s·t·are	1	Lesson 112
scared	s·c·are·d	1	Lesson 112
scares	s·c·are·s	1	Lesson 112
spares	s·p·are·s	1	Lesson 112
stared	s·t·are·d	1	Lesson 112
stares	s·t·are·s	1	Lesson 112
squared	s·qu·are·d	1	Lesson 112
squares	s·qu·are·s	1	Lesson 112
hare	h·are	1	Lesson 112
mare	m·are	1	Lesson 112
pare	p·are	1	Lesson 112
bared	b·are·d	1	Lesson 112
bares	b·are·s	1	Lesson 112
blare	b·l·are	1	Lesson 112
fared	f·are·d	1	Lesson 112
fares	f·are·s	1	Lesson 112
flare	f·l·are	1	Lesson 112
glare	g·l·are	1	Lesson 112
hares	h·are·s	1	Lesson 112
mares	m·are·s	1	Lesson 112
pared	p·are·d	1	Lesson 112
pares	p·are·s	1	Lesson 112
snare	s·n·are	1	Lesson 112
blared	b·l·are·d	1	Lesson 112
blares	b·l·are·s	1	Lesson 112
flared	f·l·are·d	1	Lesson 112
flares	f·l·are·s	1	Lesson 112
glared	g·l·are·d	1	Lesson 112
glares	g·l·are·s	1	Lesson 112
snared	s·n·are·d	1	Lesson 112
snares	s·n·are·s	1	Lesson 112
spared	s·p·are·d	1	Lesson 112

Two syllables

30 words, most common first.

Two syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
aware	a·w·are	2	Lesson 112
rarely	r·are·l·y	2	Lesson 112
careful	c·are·f·u·l	2	Lesson 112
compare	c·o·m·p·are	2	Lesson 112
declare	d·e·c·l·are	2	Lesson 112
prepare	p·r·e·p·are	2	Lesson 112
compared	c·o·m·p·are·d	2	Lesson 112
compares	c·o·m·p·are·s	2	Lesson 112
declared	d·e·c·l·are·d	2	Lesson 112
declares	d·e·c·l·are·s	2	Lesson 112
hardware	h·ar·d·w·are	2	Lesson 112
prepared	p·r·e·p·are·d	2	Lesson 112
prepares	p·r·e·p·are·s	2	Lesson 112
software	s·o·f·t·w·are	2	Lesson 112
rarer	r·are·r	2	Lesson 112
barely	b·are·l·y	2	Lesson 112
beware	b·e·w·are	2	Lesson 112
welfare	w·e·l·f·are	2	Lesson 112
careless	c·are·l·e·ss	2	Lesson 112
farewell	f·are·w·e·ll	2	Lesson 112
nightmare	n·igh·t·m·are	2	Lesson 112
fanfare	f·a·n·f·are	2	Lesson 112
warfare	w·a·r·f·are	2	Lesson 112
barefoot	b·are·f·oo·t	2	Lesson 112
carefree	c·are·f·r·ee	2	Lesson 112
squarely	s·qu·are·l·y	2	Lesson 112
farewells	f·are·w·e·ll·s	2	Lesson 112
healthcare	h·ea·l·th·c·are	2	Lesson 112
nightmares	n·igh·t·m·are·s	2	Lesson 112
threadbare	th·r·ea·d·b·are	2	Lesson 112

Three or more syllables

10 words, most common first.

Three or more syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
unaware	u·n·a·w·are	3	Lesson 112
carefully	c·are·f·u·ll·y	3	Lesson 112
awareness	a·w·are·n·e·ss	3	Lesson 112
shareholder	sh·are·h·o·l·d·er	3	Lesson 112
shareholders	sh·are·h·o·l·d·er·s	3	Lesson 112
thoroughfare	th·or·ough·f·are	3	Lesson 116
thoroughfares	th·or·ough·f·are·s	3	Lesson 116
unawares	u·n·a·w·are·s	3	Lesson 112
carelessly	c·are·l·e·ss·l·y	3	Lesson 112
carelessness	c·are·l·e·ss·n·e·ss	3	Lesson 112

When do these words become readable?

The lessons where the most words on this page become decodable. Words marked not in the sequence have a spelling the sequence never teaches as a pattern.

Lessons where the most words on this page become readable
Readable after	Words
Lesson 112	85
Lesson 116	2

How do you teach are words?

Teach are with air. "At the end of a word, /air/ is often spelled are." Read care, dare, share, spare, square. Show that the word are is the exception students already know.

What mistake do students make with are words?

Students spell care as cair. Position helps: air and are both appear at the end, so homophones (stare and stair, hare and hair) are the best teaching tool.

Where do are words come in the sequence?

Are is taught with air and ear /air/. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 112.

Exceptions worth knowing

Are (the verb) says /ar/. Our split above counts that sound separately.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 112 or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

Take care of the cat.
Share the pear.
Do not stare at the hare.

Questions people ask

What are 5 are words?

Care, dare, rare, cares, share. Those are the five most common of the 87 words where are says /air/ in our checked list.

Why doesn't are rhyme with care?

Are is an old, very common word that kept a different vowel. It is taught as a heart word.

What are common are words?

Care, share, square, spare, dare, scare, aware and compare.

When can a student read are words?

Are words are taught at Lesson 112 in the lesson sequence we use. 85 of the 87 words on this page can be sounded out by then; the rest wait for a pattern taught later, and the tables show the lesson for each word.

How this list was built

Every word comes from our lexicon of common English words, each split into spelling units and checked against a pronouncing dictionary, so a word is listed under the sound its spelling really makes. Words a student sees in our assessments are left out. The readable after lesson comes from our decodability engine, which checks each spelling unit and syllable pattern against the lesson sequence. You can run your own text through the same engine with the free decodable text checker.