1. Present tense of "to be" (plural): This is the most common usage. It indicates the state of being for more than one person, place, or thing.
* Example: "The flowers are beautiful."
2. Present tense of "to be" (second person plural): It can also refer to the plural form of "you" (formal).
* Example: "You are all welcome here."
3. A contraction of "are" + "they":
* Example: "They are coming tomorrow." can be shortened to "They're coming tomorrow."
4. A unit of measurement: In some contexts, "are" can refer to a unit of area measurement equal to 100 square meters.
* Example: "The field is about 20 ares in size."
5. A place name: There are several places called "Are" around the world, such as "Are" in Norway.
It's important to consider the context to determine the precise meaning of "are".