What are words to use instead of 'are'?

Answer 1

There are not a lot of words to use instead of are, except other forms of "to be"--is, was, were. Normally you have to rewrite the sentence to find a more active verb. For example, my answer could be rewritten like this:

Very few words exist that can replace are. Now the verbs in the sentence are "exist" and "replace."

Sometimes it's difficult to avoid are, just like I did. I could rewrite the sentence again: Now I have used the verbs "exist" and "replace" instead of the "are."

As long as you use mainly active verbs, an occasion are will not hurt your writing.