Word: be Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English been (“to be”). See below for more. 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-. Pronunciation: /ˈbiː/, [ˈbɪi̯], /ˈbɪ/, [ˈbɪ], /ˈbə/ 1. As an auxiliary verb: Labels: auxiliary Example: The dog was saved by the boy. Example: Study courses of Esperanto and Ido have been broadcast. 2. As an auxiliary verb: Example: The woman is walking. Example: I shall be writing to you soon. 3. As an auxiliary verb: Example: I am to leave tomorrow. Example: They are to stay here until I return. 4. As an auxiliary verb: Example: He is finished. Example: He is gone. 5. As an auxiliary verb: Labels: Caribbean, Ireland, auxiliary Example: 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’! Example: Niggas be tellin' these bitches 'bout business 6. As a copulative verb: Labels: impersonal Example: There is just one woman in town who can help us. Example: (or, dialectally:) It is just one woman in town who can help us. 7. As a copulative verb: Example: Hi, I’m Jim. Example: 3 times 5 is fifteen. 8. As a copulative verb: Example: Rex is a dog. Example: A dog is an animal. 9. As a copulative verb: Example: The sky is blue. Example: Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remooue this cup from me: neuerthelesse, not my will, but thine be done. 10. As a copulative verb: Example: The sky is a deep blue today. 11. As a copulative verb: Example: This building is three hundred years old. Example: I am 75 kilograms. 12. As a copulative verb: Example: I’m 20 (years old). 13. As a copulative verb: Example: It is almost eight (o’clock). Example: It’s 8:30 [read eight-thirty] in Tokyo. 14. As a copulative verb: Example: It has been three years since my grandmother died. (similar to "My grandmother died three years ago", but emphasizes the intervening period) Example: It had been six days since his departure, when I received a letter from him. 15. As a copulative verb: Labels: past, rare, regional Example: I saw her Monday was a week: I saw her a week ago last Monday (a week before last Monday). Example: 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. 16. As a copulative verb: Example: and when he compares both sides, he will be some time at a loss to fix any determination. Example: 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. 17. As a copulative verb: Example: Dinner will be ten minutes. Example: It was an hour before he returned. 18. As a copulative verb: Labels: impersonal, often Example: It is hot in Arizona, but it is not usually humid. Example: Why is it so dark in here? 19. As a copulative verb: Labels: especially, irregular Example: When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. Example: "What do we do?" "We be ourselves." 20. As an intransitive lexical verb: Labels: literary, usually Example: The Universe has no explanation: it just is. Example: That was the week that was. 21. As an intransitive lexical verb: Example: Let them be for a few hours. Example: Leave us be until the guests arrive. 22. As an intransitive lexical verb: Example: The cup is on the table. 23. As an intransitive lexical verb: Example: When will the meeting be? 24. As an intransitive lexical verb: Example: The postman has been today, but my tickets have still not yet come. Example: I have been to Spain many times.