Bear vs. Bare: What's the Difference?
Learn the many uses of bear and bare, including endure, carry, uncover, and minimal, with examples, a quiz, and FAQs.
Bear can be the animal or a verb meaning carry, support, endure, or produce. Bare is usually an adjective meaning uncovered, empty, or minimal, and it can be a verb meaning uncover. Bear the cost, but bare the facts only when you reveal them.
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A policy draft asks customers to “bare the additional cost.” Paying requires carrying or enduring the cost, so the established phrase is bear the cost.
Bear vs. Bare at a glance
| Word | Typical role | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| bear | Noun or verb | a large mammal; to carry, support, endure, or produce | The supplier will bear the cost of replacement. |
| bare | Adjective or verb | uncovered, empty, plain; to uncover | The room had bare walls and a single chair. |
How to use bear
Use bear for physical or figurative burdens, tolerating difficulty, displaying a mark, producing fruit, or changing direction. Common forms include bears, bearing, bore, and borne; born is reserved mainly for birth.
The supplier will bear the cost of replacement.
How to use bare
Use bare for something exposed, without covering, or reduced to essentials. As a verb, bare means reveal or uncover: a dog bares its teeth, and a report may bare uncomfortable facts.
The room had bare walls and a single chair.
Rules that make the choice easier
Use bear for a burden
Costs, weight, responsibility, pressure, and pain are things a person or structure can bear.
Use bare for exposure
Skin, walls, floors, branches, and facts can be bare or can be bared.
Learn the fixed expressions
Write bear in mind, bear with me, bear fruit, and bear responsibility. Write bare minimum, bare hands, and lay bare.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Incorrect: Please bare with me. Correct: Please bear with me.
- Incorrect: The tree will bare fruit. Correct: The tree will bear fruit.
- Incorrect: The bear essentials. Correct: The bare essentials.
Quick practice
1. Please ___ in mind that dates may change.
Answer: bear
2. He walked across the floor in ___ feet.
Answer: bare
3. The evidence may ___ the truth.
Answer: bare
Frequently asked questions
Is it bear with me or bare with me?
Bear with me is correct; it asks someone to be patient or endure briefly.
Is it bear minimum or bare minimum?
Bare minimum is correct because it means the least possible amount.
What is the past tense of bear?
Bore is the usual simple past; borne is the usual past participle, while born is used for birth.
Can bare be a verb?
Yes. To bare something is to uncover or reveal it.