Bare vs bear
Bare means not covered, empty, or only just enough, as in the bare minimum. As a verb, it means to uncover. Bear is the animal, and the verb for everything else: to put up with, to carry, or bear in mind.
bare adjective
Not covered by clothes or by anything else that usually covers it.
- She walked across the warm sand in bare feet.
- The trees were bare after the storm stripped away their leaves.
bear verb
To put up with something hard or painful without giving up.
- He could barely bear the pain in the days after surgery.
- I can't bear to watch scary movies alone.
Watch out
- Bare can also be a verb that means to uncover or show something that was hidden.He chose to bare his soul to the counselor at last.
- Bare can also mean only just enough, with nothing extra. It comes before a noun, as in the bare minimum or the bare necessities.The grant covered the bare minimum and nothing else.
- Bear has other verb meanings, like to carry something or to have a mark or name. Its past tense is bore and its past participle is borne: she has borne the pain. For birth, a baby was born, but a mother has borne a child.The document bore the king's official seal in red wax.
Test yourself
She walked along the beach in blank feet.
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bare. Her feet have no shoes on them, so they are not covered.
I can't blank the noise from the construction next door.
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bear. The speaker cannot put up with the noise.
The walls were blank until we hung some pictures.
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bare. Nothing was hanging on the walls yet, so they had nothing on them and were bare.
Please blank with me while I find your file.
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bear. Bear with me asks someone to put up with a short wait. It is always bear, never bare.