Aren't

How to spell aren't

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce aren't

What does aren't mean?

1. verbContraction of 'are not', used to negate the verb 'are'.

Aren't in a sentence

• These figures aren't adding up the way the accountant expected.

• The keys aren't where I left them on the hallway table.

Where does aren't come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a contraction of 'are not', formed by squeezing the negative adverb 'not' down to the clitic '-n't' and tying it to the verb 'are'. The verb 'are' descends from Old English 'earun', a Northumbrian plural form of 'beon' (to be), while 'not' developed from Old English 'nawiht', literally 'no thing' or 'nothing at all'. Such written contractions with the apostrophe marking the dropped letter began appearing in English during the 1600s, as informal spoken speech started to be recorded on the page. The apostrophe stands precisely where the 'o' of 'not' has been removed, which is the whole logic of the spelling. By a quirk of English, 'aren't' also serves as the polite negative of 'am' in questions such as 'aren't I late?', since 'amn't' never took hold in standard usage.

How the word is built

• are (present plural of 'be')
• -n't (reduced form of 'not')