The Bare Necessities Of Bare Vs. Bear

So, we’ll give you a quick refresher on when to use bare vs. bear, as well as some easy questions you can ask yourself to keep you on the right path:

• Is it an animal? When referring to the animal, remember that it has ears so you want the spelling that includes “-ear.” So, if you’re going to write a blog about your latest hike, remember that you saw a grizzly bear, not a grizzly bare.
• Is it naked or uncovered? If someone is not wearing anything at all, they’re bare. If someone is walking with uncovered feet, not wearing socks or shoes, they have bare feet. Similarly, we work with our bare hands when we’re not wearing any gloves. You can also refer to inanimate objects as being bare. If the land is bare, it’s stark or barren, with no vegetation to cover it. Here’s a quick trick for remembering: A bear wears a fur coat, so they’re never bare naked.


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• Is it producing something? To produce or create something is to bear it. You can have a tree that bears fruit or a mother who bears a child. An easy way to remember the correct spelling of bear in the sense that something is being produced is that a mama bear can bear a cub. In addition to physically producing something like a child or fruit, you can also bear something by presenting it. The phrase, “I come bearing gifts,” is a correct use, as well.
• Is it enduring? Have you ever been told to grin and bear it? Bearing a burden means enduring or putting up with the burden. An easy way for remembering the correct spelling of bear in the sense of enduring is thinking of yourself, another individual, or the object as being strong like a bear. If you’re bearing something that is physically hard, it takes the strength of a bear to make it through.
• What about barely? When you’re wanting to say something or someone is “sparse” or “almost not,” it would be described as barely. (e.g., We barely made it to our flight before they closed the doors.) Describing something as “barely happening” or “barely there” means that it almost didn’t happen or is a negligible amount. Additionally, if you barely missed out on something, then you just missed it by a small amount of time or a tiny distance. If you were to misspell it and end up with bearly, it would be describing something or someone with bear-like qualities. (e.g., That man’s beard was bearly.) But it’s a very uncommon reference.

If you’re still unsure on how to use bare vs. bear, play the odds! When in doubt, bear is commonly used. It has more meanings than bare, making it the version that’ll most likely be used in your everyday writing.o