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Discover LudwigThe phrase "are formerly" is not correct in standard written English.
It is typically used incorrectly as "formerly" is an adverb that indicates a previous state or condition, and should not be used with "are."
Example: "They were formerly known as the Red Team."
Alternatives: "used to be" or "previously known as".
Exact(28)
Even today, many of the big companies in Italy are formerly state-owned utilities and banks.
The colors she chooses are formerly pretty hues that have somehow fallen on hard times.
They are formerly reliable Labour-voting males in the urban post-industrial belt of Scotland.
Two-thirds of its residents are formerly homeless people, whose rent is paid by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Some, for instance, are formerly private or demutualised enterprises which, on going public, created charitable foundations and undertook to keep them financed.
Some are formerly state-owned companies that are flourishing as a result of being allowed to operate at arm's length from the government.
Similar(32)
He was formerly an offshore oil engineer.
Lead mining was formerly of economic importance.
Flogging was formerly executed with great brutality.
It was formerly included in feudal Moldavia.
Aruba was formerly a part of the Netherlands Antilles.
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Justyna Jupowicz-Kozak
CEO of Professional Science Editing for Scientists @ prosciediting.com