These words have the same sound, but are unrelated. We begin with bare, because it has only few definitions, while bear has many.
Bare - Meaning and Sentence Examples
Bare can be an adjective meaning ‘naked – without usual coverings, decorations, or other unnecessary components’ or a verb meaning ‘to uncover, reveal, or show something otherwise hidden’:
- The bare truth is often shocking. (adjective)
- Why are we afraid to show our bare bodies in this society? (adjective)
- My room was bare of furnishings and pictures when I first moved in (adjective)
- It is the job of a detective or journalist to bare the truths hidden by others. (verb)
- It must be scary for actors to bare themselves for nude scenes in movies. (verb)
Bare hands and bare feet, or the adjective barefoot, are common in English:
He fights with bare hands instead of weapons.
She dreams to live barefoot and free in nature.
In another use, bare can mean “only” or “merely”:
It is not difficult to live with only bare necessities – food and shelter.
We live barely two hours away from you.
"Bare Necessities," is the name of a song from Disney’s film of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, where it is sung by . . . a bear! And that is a pun; which brings us to bears . . .
Bear - Meaning and Sentence Examples
Bear has many, many meanings.
To simplify, all of bear’s noun-meanings are related to the animal we all recognize—a large fur-covered omnivorous wild animal, with a dangerous reputation (although we also find them adorable, such as the children’s book character, Winnie the Pooh). In fact, a "teddy bear" is the most well known toy animal (a stuffed animal) for children in America; it was named after former American president Theodore Roosevelt.
However bear, as a noun, has several other meanings: (1) a large, strong, man with a rough (un-refined) personality and appearance, (2) an investor who believes prices are going down, and (3) anything very difficult:
He’s a bear (of a man) who likes to build things and spend time in the woods.
If the stock market is bear-ish (a bear-market) this week, I will buy stocks.
This oven is going to be a bear (difficult task) to clean.
As a verb, bear (bear, bore, born) has many more meanings:
(1) To carry:
We bore the packages into the house.
(2) To accept:
A man must bear responsibility for his actions.
(3) To suffer:
Refugees must bear many hardships.
(4) To go along with:
Please bear with me for a moment, as I explain the background.
(5) To bring forth children or fruit:
She bore her husband three children.
This tree bears fruit every spring.
(6) To be suitable or worthwhile for:
This movie could bear watching a second time.
(7) To have a quality:
This movie bears some resemblance to Star Wars.
(8) To have a name or title:
He bore the title ‘Supreme Leader.’
(9) To behave in a certain manner:
Be careful to bear yourself well when you meet the president.
(10) To have a feeling:
She bore only good feelings for him.
(11) To be relevant to:
I don’t know if that data bears on your conclusion.
(12) To go in a certain direction:
Bear right at the intersection to find my house.
(13) To apply strength to a task:
If you bear down on this work, it will be finished sooner.
And it is also used in many collocations (set phrases):
To bear witness = to testify, to tell what one has seen
To bear arms = to carry weapons / to serve as a soldier
To bear in mind = to continually remember
To bear fruit = to come to any result
To bear with = to tolerate
And that’s most of bear’s meanings!
Thank you for bearing with me. It may be a bear to remember all of bear’s meanings, but it’s not unbearable; if you bear that knowledge, you will be able to bear yourself in English much more effectively!