Signbank

1. The plural and the second person singular of the present tense of the verb 'be'.

1. Used in Sign English systems to represent the English word “are”. Representing English words that do not normally occur in Auslan is sometimes necessary, e.g., when someone is “reading out” in signs to a group of people the contents of something written in English, or when someone is quoting “word for word” in signs what someone else said or wrote in English.

2. Some younger signers accept this as the usual way to represent the English word “are”, but the majority of signers, especially older signers, or much more likely to fingerspell A-R-E if they have a need to do this.