Meaning & use
brown bear
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A large bear with brown fur that lives in forests and mountains of North America, Europe, and Asia.
Grammar: Countable: one brown bear, two brown bears.
Patterns
- a brown bear
- brown bears
We saw a brown bear fishing in the river during our trip to Alaska.
Brown bears can weigh up to 600 kilograms.
The park warns visitors not to leave food out because brown bears often come near the campsite.
Word forms
| plural | brown bears |
|---|
Common combinations
- a brown bear cub
- The mother brown bear protected her cubs.
- a brown bear habitat
- The forest is a natural brown bear habitat.
- spot a brown bear
- Tourists hope to spot a brown bear in the wild.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grizzly bear
- A grizzly is a type of brown bear found in North America, usually with a hump on its shoulders. 'Brown bear' is the broader term.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'brown bear' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Brown bear' is a countable noun, so use 'a' for one and add '-s' for more than one. Option 1 has 'a' with a singular noun, which is correct. Option 2 incorrectly adds '-s' after 'a'. Option 3 uses 'two' with a singular noun. Option 4 is missing 'a' or 'the'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “brown bear”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.