# bear vs began

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### bear
*noun · IPA /bɛə/ · frequency rank #1,985*
A large, generally omnivorous mammal (a few species are purely carnivorous or herbivorous), having shaggy fur, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of the family Ursidae.

### began
*verb · IPA /bɪˈɡæn/ · frequency rank #894*
simple past of begin

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-began