Confusing Words from Bands to Bearing

Are you restrained by bands or by banns? Do you eat at a banquet or a banquette? Is a poet called a bard or a barred? Does a bear live in the woods, or does a bare? There are many confusing words in the English language. Learn about the confusing words from bands to bearing in this article.

bands, banns, bans
Bands are materials used to restrain or confine.
The bands around their wrists were not easily broken.
Banns are the notice or public announcement of an intended marriage.
Jeremy and Michelle are going to have their banns published in the Sunday paper.
Bans is the plural of ban, which means to prohibit or keep an event from happening.
Dorothy feels that her mom always bans the most enjoyable activities.

banquet, banquette
A banquet is a feast.
The king invited all of his friends to a royal banquet.
A banquette is a long bench with an upholstered seat. These are normally seen in restaurants to relax on while you wait for your hostess to seat you.
The small restaurant's business increased so much that they had to install a banquette.

bar, barre
Bar has many meanings. It can be used as an adjective, noun, or verb. One of its meanings as a noun is an oblong piece of any solid material.
The bar of soap, even though it was used daily, lasted an incredible amount of time.
Barre is a term used in ballet. It is a handrail, placed about the height of the hip, used by a dancer during practice to maintain balance. It can also be spelled 'bar', but normally it is spelled 'barre'.
Andrea held onto the barre as she went through her hip and leg stretching exercises.

bard, barred
A bard is a poet.
Shakespeare is a very famous bard.
Barred means to be reinforced with bars, so as to prevent escape or entrance.
The barred doors of the cell prevents the prisoner from escaping.

bare, bear
Bare means not covered, exposed, empty, or to show.
The cupboard of Old Mother Hubbard was bare when she went to get her poor dog a bone.
Bear means to carry or endure. A bear is also an extremely grumpy person or it is a type of animal, a type that I most definitely would not want to be chased by.
The mama bear did not appreciate having the winter nap of her and her cubs disturbed by the noisy teenagers.

baring, bearing
Baring means showing or exposing.
Sylvia was hesitant about baring her very soul to the guy she was dating.
Bearing is the manner in which one conducts or carries oneself. A bearing is also a machine part.
Mark's bearing showed that he was a very educated man.
A bearing needs to be replaced in the old car.