can’t bear + to-infinitive – English Grammar Profiler

In the English Vocabulary Profile at B2, ‘bear’ is defined:

accept someone or something unpleasant

For example:

I can’t bear to see him like this.

listen

*There are other uses of ‘bear’ that are more advanced.  However, the sense defined above has a distinct grammar pattern:

(CAN | COULD) (often negative) + bear + (to-infinitive | Verb-ing | noun phrase)

Verb-ing (gerund) is very rare!

We can do a more open search than just can’t bear to or ing in iWeb with the following code:

_VM _XX bear * *

1 CAN’T BEAR THE THOUGHT 414
2 COULDN’T BEAR THE THOUGHT 295

What if she could not bear the thought of leaving those people all alone to burn alive, even for righteousness‘s sake?

TED

3 SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS 235 4 CAN’T BEAR TO BE 216 5 COULD NOT BEAR TO SEE 191 6 CAN NOT BEAR THE THOUGHT 183 7 CAN NOT BEAR TO SEE 183 8 SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS 173 9 CA N’T BEAR TO PART 166 10 CAN NOT BEAR TO BE 165 11 COULD N’T BEAR TO SEE 163 12 COULD NOT BEAR THE THOUGHT 160 13 CA N’T BEAR TO SEE 154 14 COULD NOT BEAR TO BE 133 15 COULD N’T BEAR TO BE 106 16 CA N’T BEAR TO LEAVE 105 17 CA N’T BEAR TO THINK 105 18 CAN NOT BEAR THEM NOW 103 19 CAN NOT BEAR TO HEAR 91 20 COULD N’T BEAR TO WATCH 89 21 CA N’T BEAR TO LOOK 86 22 CA N’T BEAR TO WATCH 82 23 COULD N’T BEAR TO LOOK 78 24 CA N’T BEAR TO THROW 77 25 CA N’T BEAR IT . 76 26 COULD N’T BEAR TO LEAVE 76 27 CAN NOT BEAR IT . 71 28 CAN NOT BEAR TO THINK 71 29 COULD N’T BEAR IT . 70 30 COULD NOT BEAR TO HAVE 67 31 COULD NOT BEAR TO LOOK 65 32 CAN NOT BEAR TO LOOK 63 33 COULD N’T BEAR TO PART 63 34 COULD NOT BEAR TO THINK 60 35 CA N’T BEAR THE IDEA 58 36 COULD NOT BEAR IT . 58 37 COULD NOT BEAR TO HEAR 51 38 CAN NOT BEAR TO HAVE 50 39 COULD NOT BEAR TO WATCH 48 40 COULD N’T BEAR THE IDEA 47 41 CA N’T BEAR TO LET 45 42 COULD NOT BEAR THE IDEA 45 43 CA N’T BEAR TO HEAR 44

44 CAN NOT BEAR THE WEIGHT 44

45 CAN NOT BEAR TO WATCH 43

46 COULD NOT BEAR THE SIGHT 42

47 CA N’T BEAR TO GET 40 48 COULD NOT BEAR TO LEAVE 40 49 CA N’T BEAR TO LOSE 38

50 CAN NOT BEAR THE BURDEN 38

51 COULD N’T BEAR TO HAVE 37 52 CA N’T BEAR TO GO 36 53 CA N’T BEAR TO MISS 36 54 CAN NOT BEAR TO PART 36 55 COULD N’T BEAR TO THINK 36 56 CA N’T BEAR IT , 35 57 CAN NOT BEAR VERY MUCH 35 58 CA N’T BEAR TO HAVE 34 59 CAN NOT BEAR THE PAIN 33 60 CAN NOT BEAR THE IDEA 32 61 COULD N’T BEAR TO THROW 32 62 COULD NOT BEAR IT ANY 32 63 CAN NOT BEAR TO LIVE 31 64 COULD NOT BEAR TO LIVE 31 65 CA N’T BEAR TO DO 29 66 CAN NOT BEAR FRUIT OF 29 67 COULD N’T BEAR IT ANY 29 68 COULD N’T BEAR TO LET 29 69 COULD N’T BEAR TO LOSE 29 70 CA N’T BEAR TO GIVE 28 71 CAN NOT BEAR TO LOSE 28 72 CA N’T BEAR THE PAIN 27 73 CA N’T BEAR TO LIVE 27 74 COULD NOT BEAR IT , 27 75 CAN NOT BEAR GOOD FRUIT 26 76 CAN NOT BEAR IT , 26 77 CAN NOT BEAR TO LET 26 78 COULD NOT BEAR TO PART 26 79 COULD N’T BEAR TO TELL 25 80 COULD NOT BEAR THE PAIN 25 81 COULD NOT BEAR THE WEIGHT 25 82 CA N’T BEAR IT ANY 24 83 CA N’T BEAR TO WAIT 24 84 COULD N’T BEAR TO DO 24 85 COULD N’T BEAR TO GO 24 86 COULD N’T BEAR TO LIVE 24 87 COULD NOT BEAR TO LOSE 24 88 CA N’T BEAR TO PUT 23 89 CAN NOT BEAR TO GO 22 90 CAN NOT BEAR WEIGHT ON 22 91 SHALL NOT BEAR THE INIQUITY 22 92 CAN NOT BEAR BAD FRUIT 21 93 CAN NOT BEAR TO LEAVE 21 94 COULD N’T BEAR TO TAKE 21 95 COULD NOT BEAR TO LET 21 96 COULD N’T BEAR IT , 20 97 COULD N’T BEAR THE PAIN 20 98 COULD NOT BEAR TO GIVE 20 99 CA N’T BEAR IT WHEN 19

100 CAN NOT BEAR THE SIGHT 19

1 CAN’T BEAR SEEING 13 2 COULDN’T BEAR SEEING 10 3 CAN’T BEAR LISTENING 8 4 CAN NOT BEAR SEEING 7 5 COULDN’T BEAR LOSING 7 6 COULDN’T BEAR WAITING 6 7 CAN’T BEAR WATCHING 5 8 COULD NOT BEAR LIVING 5 9 COULD NOT BEAR SEEING 5

10 COULD NOT BEAR SITTING 5

B1: false, sight, weight B2: witness