be
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /biː/
ipa: [biː]
ipa: [bi(ː)]
ipa: [bɪj]
ipa: /bi/
ipa: /bɪ/
homophone: b
homophone: bee
homophone: Bea
rhymes: -iː
Forms: form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: be
form: am
form: 'm
form: was
form: 's
form: were
form: are
form: 're
form: were
form: is
form: 's
form: are
form: 're
form: was
form: were
form: were
form: are
form: 're
form: were
form: was
form: 's
form: be
form: were
form: be
form: -
form: being
form: been
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: be
form: am
form: 'm
form: be
form: was
form: 's
form: were
form: are
form: 're
form: art
form: 'rt
form: were
form: wast
form: wert
form: is
form: 's
form: beeth
form: bes
form: was
form: were
form: are
form: 're
form: be
form: been
form: were
form: was
form: 's
form: weren
form: be
form: beest
form: were
form: wert
form: be
form: -
form: being
form: been
form: bee
Etymology: From Middle English been (“to be”).
further etymology of be and its conjugated forms
The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English.
* The forms beginning with b- come from Old English bēon (“to be, become”), from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, exist, come to be, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-yé-ti (“to grow, become, come into being, appear”), from the root *bʰuH-. In particular:
** Now-dialectal use of been as an infinitive of be is either from Middle English been (“to be”) or an extension of the past participle.
** Now-obsolete use of been as a plural present tense (meaning "are") is from Middle English been, be (present plural of been (“to be”), with the -n leveled in from the past and subjunctive; compare competing forms aren/are).
** Use of been as a past participle is from Middle English been, ybeen, from Old English ġebēon.
* The forms beginning with w- come from the aforementioned Old English bēon, which shared its past tense with the verb wesan, from Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”).
* The remaining forms (am, are, is) are also from Old English wesan (“to be”), Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, the present tense of which comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₁és-ti, from the root *h₁es-.
Senses: examples: text: The dog was saved by the boy.
text: Study courses of Esperanto and Ido have been broadcast.
ref: 1995, C. K. Ogden, Psyche: An Annual General and Linguistic Psychology 1920-1952, C. K. Ogden, →ISBN, page 13:
glosses: As an auxiliary verb:
Used with past participles of verbs to form the passive voice.
examples: text: The woman is walking.
text: I shall be writing to you soon.
text: We liked to chat while we were eating.
text: In the possibility of radio uses of a constructed language — and such experiments are proving successful—vast sums of money and untold social forces may be involved.
ref: 1995, C. K. Ogden, Psyche: An Annual General and Linguistic Psychology 1920-1952, C. K. Ogden, →ISBN, page 13:
glosses: As an auxiliary verb:
Used with present participles of verbs to form the continuous aspect.
examples: text: I am to leave tomorrow.
text: They are to stay here until I return.
text: I'd been to've been ambassador, but fell seriously ill.
text: How were they to know the whole exercise was a ruse?
text: They were to have been married overseas but COVID forced a change of plans.
glosses: As an auxiliary verb:
Used with to-infinitives of verbs to express intent, obligation, appropriateness, or relative future occurrence.
examples: text: He is finished.
text: He is gone.
text: He is come.
text: They are not yet come back.
ref: c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv], page 133:
text: And he cryed mightily with a strõg voyce, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of deuils[…]
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 18:2:
text: ‘I wish that he were come to me, / For he will come,’ she said.
ref: 1850, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Blessed Damozel, ll.67-68:
text: He is not here; for he is risen […].
ref: Matthew 28:6 (various translations, from the King James Version of 1611 to Revised Version of 1881)
text: The King with half the East at heel is marched from lands of morning;
ref: 1922, A. E. Housman, Last Poems XXV, l.13, page 51
text: कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो
ref: 1965, The Decision to Drop the Bomb (documentary), spoken by J. Robert Oppenheimer, translation of original in Sanskrit:
roman: kāloʼsmi lokakṣayakṛtpravṛddho
text: His origins are become remote as is his destiny and not again in all the world’s turning will there be terrains so wild and barbarous to try whether the stuff of creation may be shaped to man’s will or whether his own heart is not another kind of clay.
ref: 1985, Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, page 4:
glosses: As an auxiliary verb:
Used with past participles of certain intransitive verbs to form the perfect aspect.
examples: text: 1996, David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein, Tom Shadyac and Steve Oedekerk, screenplay of The Nutty Professor
Women be shoppin’! You cannot stop a woman from shoppin’!
text: Niggas be tellin' these bitches 'bout business
ref: 2020, Moneybagg Yo, Thug Cry:
glosses: As an auxiliary verb:
To tend to do, often do; marks the habitual aspect.
qualifier: African-American Vernacular
raw_tags: not conjugated
examples: text: There is just one woman in town who can help us.
text: (or, dialectally:) It is just one woman in town who can help us.
text: Some men there are loue not a gaping Pigge: / Some that are mad, if they behold a Cat: / And others, when the bag-pipe sings i’th nose, / Cannot containe their Vrine for affection.
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 178:
text: "There is a sort of domestic enjoyment to be known even in a crowd, and this you had."
ref: 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter IX, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume IV, London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC, page 170:
text: "There has been lots of commentary on who is staying and who is staying out and this weekend will be the real test," said one senior media buying agency executive who has pulled the advertising for one major client.
ref: 2011 July 6, Mark Sweney, The Guardian:
glosses: As a copulative verb:
To exist.
examples: text: Hi, I’m Jim.
text: 3 times 5 is fifteen.
text: These four are the ones going to the quarter-finals.
text: François Mitterrand was president of France from 1981 to 1995.
text: This is how we do it.
glosses: As a copulative verb:
Used to declare the subject and object identical or equivalent.
examples: text: Rex is a dog.
text: A dog is an animal.
text: Dogs are animals.
glosses: As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate that a predicate nominal applies to the subject.
examples: text: The sky is blue.
text: Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remooue this cup from me: neuerthelesse, not my will, but thine be done.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 22:42:
glosses: As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by an adjective or prepositional phrase.
examples: text: The sky is a deep blue today.
glosses: As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.
examples: text: This building is three hundred years old.
text: I am 75 kilograms.
text: He’s about 6 feet tall.
glosses: As a copulative verb:
Used to link a subject to a measurement.
examples: text: I’m 20 (years old).
glosses: As a copulative verb:
Used to state the age of a subject in years.
raw_tags: with a cardinal numeral
examples: text: It is almost eight (o’clock).
text: It’s 8:30 [read eight-thirty] in Tokyo.
text: What time is it there? It’s night.
glosses: As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate the time of day.
raw_tags: with a dummy subject it
examples: text: It has been three years since my grandmother died. (similar to "My grandmother died three years ago", but emphasizes the intervening period)
text: It had been six days since his departure, when I received a letter from him.
glosses: As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event.
raw_tags: with since
examples: text: I saw her Monday was a week: I saw her a week ago last Monday (a week before last Monday).
text: On the morning of Sunday was fortnight before Christmas: on the morning of the Sunday that was two weeks before the Sunday prior to Christmas.
text: Miss Lardner (whom you have seen at her cousin Biddulph's) saw you at St James's church on Sunday was fortnight.
ref: 1748, [Samuel Richardson], Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume V, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC, page 97:
text: And so, without as much as to return home to furnish myself for such a journey, volens, nolens, they prevailed, or rather forced me to come to Dublin to confer with those colonels, and that was the last August was twelvemonth.
ref: 1770, Historical Memoirs of the Irish Rebellion, in the year 1641 […] In a letter to Walter Harris, Esq; [By John Curry.] The fourth edition, with corrections throughout the whole, and large additions, by the author, Ireland, page 186:
text: That they were present at the Election in August was Twelvemonth, at which there was the strictest Scrutiny that ever they saw in their Lives, by all the Four Candidates.
ref: 1803, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Journals of the House of Commons, page 249:
text: Allow me to recommend some of the kipper—It was John Hay that catched it Saturday was three weeks.
ref: 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 79-80:
text: “Did there come no young woman here—very young and pretty—Friday was a fortnight, to see Dinah Morris?”
ref: 1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “The Quest”, in Adam Bede […], volume III, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book fifth, page 53:
text: 'Twas there to-morrow is a week.
ref: 1895, Miss M. E. Rope of Suffolk, quoted by Joseph Wright, in The English Dialect Dictionary, page 202
text: I killed my poor father, Tuesday was a week, for doing the like of that.
ref: 1907, John Millington Synge, The Playboy of the Western World, I, page 20:
text: Theobald Green gent dead in the Marshalsea in August was twelvemonth
John Grey gent delivered out of the Marshalsea about August last by Mr. Secretary and remains in St. Mary Overies.
John Jacob gent delivered out of the Marsh. the XVII of May was twelvemonth and sent to Bridewell by order of the Council.
ref: 1920 (published), St. George Kieran Hyland, A Century of Persecution Under Tudor and Stuart Sovereigns from Contemporary Records, London, Paul, page 402, quoting an earlier document, Loosley volume 5, no. 28, "List of Prisoners: In Sir W. More's handwriting"
glosses: As a copulative verb:
Used to link two noun clauses: a day of the week, recurring date, month, or other specific time (on which the event of the main clause took place) and a period of time indicating how long ago that day was.
examples: text: and when he compares both sides, he will be some time at a loss to fix any determination.
ref: 1844, Robert Chambers, Cyclopedia of English Literature: A History, page 289:
text: The bag was crisp with ice, and with my fingerless gloves I was a bit of time unholing the buttons. But I got the flap turned back at last, and there was Ryan grey-faced and stark.
ref: 1907, C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne, McTodd, page 232:
glosses: As a copulative verb:
To pass or spend (time).
examples: text: Dinner will be ten minutes.
text: It was an hour before he returned.
glosses: As a copulative verb:
To take a period of time.
examples: text: It is hot in Arizona, but it is not usually humid.
text: Why is it so dark in here?
glosses: As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate ambient conditions such as weather, light, noise or air quality.
raw_tags: with it as a dummy subject
examples: text: When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead.
ref: 2006 October 9, Kristin Newman (writer), Barney Stinson (character), How I Met Your Mother, season 2, episode 1
text: "What do we do?" "We be ourselves."
text: Just be yourself.
text: Why is he being nice to me?
glosses: As a copulative verb:
To exist or behave in a certain way.
qualifier: dynamic / lexical be
raw_tags: in progressive tenses
examples: text: The Universe has no explanation: it just is.
text: That was the week that was.
text: This is something that was meant to be.
text: Rachel wepynge ffor her chyldren / and wolde nott be comforted becauſe they were not.
ref: 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew ij:[18], folio iij, recto:
text: To be, or not to be: that is the question: / Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them?
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 265:
text: […]it were great sottishnesse, and apparent false-hood, to say, that that is which is not yet in being, or that already hath ceased from being.
ref: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 351:
text: There is surely a peece of Divinity in us, something that was before the Elements, and owes no homage unto the Sun.
ref: 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, II.2, link:
text: And after this death there is to be no resurrection. The old man of sin has ceased to be; once crucified, he lives no more. The death is utter; the end complete.
ref: 1893, Andrew Martin Fairbairn, Christ in the Centuries, and Other Sermons, 2nd edition, volume 12, E.P. Dutton & Company, page 116:
text: This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies!
ref: 1969 December 7, Monty Python, “Full Frontal Nudity, Dead Parrot sketch”, in Monty Python's Flying Circus, spoken by Mr Praline (John Cleese):
text: The genial hotel manager of the past is no more. Now owner of a trucking concern and living in Belgium, Rusesabagina says the horrors he witnessed in Rwanda "made me a different man."
ref: 2004 December 13, Richard Schickel, “Not Just an African Story”, in Time:
glosses: As an intransitive lexical verb:
To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
examples: text: Let them be for a few hours.
text: Leave us be until the guests arrive.
glosses: As an intransitive lexical verb:
To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
examples: text: The cup is on the table.
glosses: As an intransitive lexical verb:
To occupy a place.
examples: text: When will the meeting be?
glosses: As an intransitive lexical verb:
To occur, to take place.
examples: text: The postman has been today, but my tickets have still not yet come.
text: I have been to Spain many times.
text: We've been about twenty miles.
text: I have terrible constipation – I haven't been for several days.
text: I’ve been into town this morning.
glosses: As an intransitive lexical verb:
Elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar, also extending to certain other senses of "go".
raw_tags: in perfect tenses
Synonyms: sense: used to form passive
word: get
Derived terms: word: abe
word: albe
word: beable
word: be about to
word: be cool
word: be-er
word: be going to
word: be no match for
word: be quiet
word: be to
word: beware
word: bewith
word: bist
word: gonnabe
word: habitual be
word: inter-be
word: maybe
word: might-be
word: to-be
word: unbe
word: wannabe
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
word: be after
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
word: be along
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to be somewhere else
translation: to be somewhere else
word: be away
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to show negative attitude towards
translation: to show negative attitude towards
word: be down on
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to be at home or at work
translation: to be at home or at work
word: be in
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to be involved in
translation: to be involved in
word: be in on
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
word: be like
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to be unacceptable
translation: to be unacceptable
word: be not on
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to be not fresh, of food; to leave, to depart
translation: to be not fresh, of food; to leave, to depart
word: be off
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to take place; to take drugs
translation: to take place; to take drugs
word: be on
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
word: be on about
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
word: be onto
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to be away
translation: to be away
word: be out
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to have no more left
translation: to have no more left
word: be out of
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to attempt
translation: to attempt
word: be out to do
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to be out of bed
translation: to be out of bed
word: be up
sense: phrasal verbs etc. derived from be
english: to look forward to
translation: to look forward to
word: be up for