are for Japanese speakers — pronunciation and common errors

Pronunciation

The Japanese /ɾ/ is a single tap, leading to the substitution of the English liquid /r/ in 'are' with a flap or an epenthetic vowel addition, producing /aːɾɯ/.

Grammar

Japanese verbs do not conjugate based on person or number, so the distinction between 'am', 'is', and 'are' has no equivalent in the L1 system; learners frequently default to 'is' or omit the copula entirely because Japanese sentences can end in nouns or adjectives without a verb.

Examples

• They are very happy with the results.
• We are currently looking for a new apartment that is closer to the city center.