A few weeks ago, I posted about
Homophones and Contractions
. Homophones are words that sound alike (can be spelled alike or not) but have different meanings.
As an editor, I fix tons of homophones in manuscripts. From time to time, I thought I'd feature some commonly misused homophones.
Today, I'll discuss bear and bare. At first glance, these might seem easy.
SourceBearAn animal. Easy. Right?
Well, as a noun, yes.
Verb variations (past tense = bore, past participle = borne):
1. To hold up, support (bear weight)2. To give birth (bear a child)3. To produce by natural growth (bear fruit)4. To hold up under / be capable of (bear close examination)
Also bear down on something and bear in mind.
BareSome good adjectives for this one.
1. Without covering or clothing / naked2. Without the usual coverings or contents (bare walls)3. Open to view / unconcealed (bare dislike)4. Unadorned (bare facts)5. Just sufficient (bare necessities of life)
Verb (past tense: bared)
1. To reveal / uncover / expose (bare all in an interview, bare one's teeth)
Is there an editing/grammar issue that's always caused you trouble? If so, share it in the comments so I can feature it in a future post. Definitions from Dictionary.com
Published on April 29, 2015 05:00