Bear or Bare (Witness, Fruit, the Brunt)

Bear Witness, Bear Fruit, and Bear the Brunt

Writers are highly familiar with "bear" meaning a large mammal (e.g., grizzly bear), and this causes some to opt for "bare" when using some common expressions (because they know that a "bear" denotes the large mammal). Well, unless you mean exposed or naked (the meaning of "bare"), then you should almost certainly be using "bear," which is a word with many meanings. Here are four common expressions with "bear":

• Bear witness
• Bear fruit
• Bear the brunt
• Bear with me

Using "bare" with these expressions might not be be wrong, but it will certainly alter the meaning.

• Bare witness
(This is wrong unless you mean a witness with no clothes on.)
• Bare fruit
(This is wrong unless you mean a fruit with no dressing, peel, or skin.)
• Bare the brunt
(This is wrong.)
• Bare with me
(This is wrong.)

Read more about "bare" and "bear" (including "born" and "borne").

Printable and Sendable Test