be

Etymology 1
From.

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, from , from , from the root . In particular:
 * Now-dialectal use of been as an infinitive of be is either from or an extension of the past participle.
 * Now-obsolete use of been as a plural present tense (meaning "are") is from, (present plural of , with the -n leveled in from the past and subjunctive; compare competing forms /).
 * Use of been as a past participle is from, , from.
 * The forms beginning with w- come from the aforementioned, which shared its past tense with the verb , from , from , from.
 * The remaining forms (am, are, is) are also from, from , from , from , from the root.

Verb

 * He is come
 * 1) * Matthew 28:6 (various translations, from the King James Version of 1611 to Revised Version of 1881):
 * He is not here; for he is risen.
 * 1) * 1922,, XXV, l.13, page 51:
 * The King with half the East at heel is marched from lands of morning;
 * 1)  To tend to do, often do;
 * 2) * 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’!
 * 1)  To exist.
 * 2) * 1895, Miss M. E. Rope of Suffolk, quoted by Joseph Wright, in The English Dialect Dictionary, page 202:
 * 'Twas there to-morrow is a week.
 * 1) * 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":
 * 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.
 * 1)  To exist or behave in a certain way.
 * 2) * 2006 October 9, Kristin Newman (writer), Barney Stinson (character), , season 2, episode 1:
 * "When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."
 * 1)  To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
 * 2) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 3) To occupy a place.
 * 4) To occur, to take place.
 * 1) * Matthew 28:6 (various translations, from the King James Version of 1611 to Revised Version of 1881):
 * He is not here; for he is risen.
 * 1) * 1922,, XXV, l.13, page 51:
 * The King with half the East at heel is marched from lands of morning;
 * 1)  To tend to do, often do;
 * 2) * 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’!
 * 1)  To exist.
 * 2) * 1895, Miss M. E. Rope of Suffolk, quoted by Joseph Wright, in The English Dialect Dictionary, page 202:
 * 'Twas there to-morrow is a week.
 * 1) * 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":
 * 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.
 * 1)  To exist or behave in a certain way.
 * 2) * 2006 October 9, Kristin Newman (writer), Barney Stinson (character), , season 2, episode 1:
 * "When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."
 * 1)  To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
 * 2) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 3) To occupy a place.
 * 4) To occur, to take place.
 * 1) * 1895, Miss M. E. Rope of Suffolk, quoted by Joseph Wright, in The English Dialect Dictionary, page 202:
 * 'Twas there to-morrow is a week.
 * 1) * 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":
 * 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.
 * 1)  To exist or behave in a certain way.
 * 2) * 2006 October 9, Kristin Newman (writer), Barney Stinson (character), , season 2, episode 1:
 * "When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."
 * 1)  To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
 * 2) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 3) To occupy a place.
 * 4) To occur, to take place.
 * 1) * 1895, Miss M. E. Rope of Suffolk, quoted by Joseph Wright, in The English Dialect Dictionary, page 202:
 * 'Twas there to-morrow is a week.
 * 1) * 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":
 * 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.
 * 1)  To exist or behave in a certain way.
 * 2) * 2006 October 9, Kristin Newman (writer), Barney Stinson (character), , season 2, episode 1:
 * "When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."
 * 1)  To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
 * 2) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 3) To occupy a place.
 * 4) To occur, to take place.
 * 1) * 1895, Miss M. E. Rope of Suffolk, quoted by Joseph Wright, in The English Dialect Dictionary, page 202:
 * 'Twas there to-morrow is a week.
 * 1) * 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":
 * 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.
 * 1)  To exist or behave in a certain way.
 * 2) * 2006 October 9, Kristin Newman (writer), Barney Stinson (character), , season 2, episode 1:
 * "When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."
 * 1)  To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
 * 2) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 3) To occupy a place.
 * 4) To occur, to take place.
 * 1)  To exist or behave in a certain way.
 * 2) * 2006 October 9, Kristin Newman (writer), Barney Stinson (character), , season 2, episode 1:
 * "When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."
 * 1)  To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
 * 2) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 3) To occupy a place.
 * 4) To occur, to take place.
 * 1)  To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
 * 2) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 3) To occupy a place.
 * 4) To occur, to take place.
 * 1) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 2) To occupy a place.
 * 3) To occur, to take place.
 * 1) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 2) To occupy a place.
 * 3) To occur, to take place.
 * 1) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 2) To occupy a place.
 * 3) To occur, to take place.
 * 1) To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
 * 2) To occupy a place.
 * 3) To occur, to take place.
 * 1) To occupy a place.
 * 2) To occur, to take place.
 * 1) To occur, to take place.

Usage notes

 * When used copulatively with a pronoun, traditional grammar puts the pronoun in the subjective case rather than the objective case, regardless of which side of the copula it is placed. For example, “I was the masked man” and “The masked man was I” would both be considered correct, while “The masked man was me” and “Me was the masked man” would both be incorrect. However, most colloquial speech treats the verb be as transitive, in which case the pronoun is used in the objective case if it occurs after the copula: “I was the masked man” but “The masked man was me”. This paradigm applies even if the copula is linking two pronouns; thus “I am her” and “She is me", and “Am I me?” (versus the traditional “I am she”, “She is I”, “Am I I?”). However, the use of whom with a copula is generally considered incorrect and a hypercorrection, though in some cases (especially in sentences involving a  or a perfect tense), such as “Whom do you want to be?”, it can come naturally to some speakers; in short, straightforward sentences, such as “Whom are you?”, this is much rarer and likelier to be considered incorrect.
 * In most copulative and intransitive con-copulative senses be is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous aspect. See Category:English stative verbs.

Conjugation
Modern

Archaic


 * The verb is the most irregular non-defective verb in Standard English. Unlike other verbs, which distinguish at most five forms (as in ––––),  distinguishes eight:
 * itself is the plain form, used as the infinitive, as the imperative, and as the present subjunctive (though many speakers do not distinguish the present indicative and present subjunctive, using the indicative forms for both).
 * I want to be a father someday. (infinitive)
 * If that be true... (present subjunctive; is is common in this position)
 * Allow the truth to be heard! (infinitive)
 * Please be here by eight o’clock. (imperative)
 * The librarian asked that the rare books not be touched. (present subjunctive; speakers that do not distinguish the subjunctive and indicative would use an auxiliary verb construction here)
 * is also used as the present tense indicative form in the alternative, dynamic / lexical conjugation of be:
 * What do we do? We be ourselves. (first-person plural present indicative, lexical be)
 * but: Who are we? We are human beings. (first-person plural present indicative, copula be)
 * It is also an archaic alternative form of the indicative, especially in the plural:
 * The powers that be, are ordained of God. (Romans 13:1, Tyndale Bible, 1526)
 * We are true men; we are no spies: We be twelve brethren... (Genesis 42:31–2, King James Version, 1611)
 * I think it be thine indeed, for thou liest in it. (Hamlet, Act V, Scene 1, circa 1600 – though this may be viewed as the subjunctive instead)
 * ,, and are the forms of the present indicative.  is the first-person singular (used with );  is the third-person singular (used with , ,  and other subjects that would be used with  rather than ); and  is both the second-person singular and the plural (used with , , , and any other plural subjects).
 * Am I in the right place? (first-person singular present indicative)
 * You are even taller than your brother! (second-person singular present indicative)
 * Where is the library? (third-person singular present indicative)
 * These are the biggest shoes we have. (plural present indicative)
 *  and are the forms of the past indicative and past subjunctive (like ). In the past indicative,  is the first- and third-person singular (used with, as well as with , ,  and other subjects that would be used with  rather than ), and  is both the second-person singular and the plural (used with , , , and any other plural subjects). In the traditional past subjunctive,  is used with all subjects, though many speakers do not actually distinguish the past subjunctive from the past indicative, and therefore use  with first- and third-person singular subjects even in cases where other speakers would use.
 * I was out of town. (first-person singular past indicative)
 * You were the first person here. (second-person singular past indicative)
 * The room was dirty. (third-person singular past indicative)
 * We were angry at each other. (plural past indicative)
 * I wish I were more sure. (first-person singular past subjunctive; was is also common, though considered less correct by some)
 * If she were here, she would know what to do. (third-person singular past subjunctive; was is also common, though considered less correct by some)
 * is the gerund and present participle, used in progressive aspectual forms, after various catenative verbs, and in other constructions that function like nouns, adjectivally or adverbially. (It’s also used as a deverbal noun and as a conjunction; see those senses in the entry for itself.)
 * Being in London and being in Tokyo have similar rewards but in different languages. (gerund in grammatical subject)
 * All of a sudden, he’s being nice to everyone. (present participle in progressive aspect)
 * His mood being good increased his productivity noticeably. (present participle in adjectival phrase)
 * It won’t stop being a problem until someone does something about it. (gerund after catenative verb)
 * is the past participle, used in the perfect aspect. In Middle English, it was also the infinitive.
 * It’s been that way for a week and a half.
 * In archaic or obsolete forms of English, with the pronoun, the verb has a few additional forms:
 * When the pronoun was in regular use, the forms, , and  were the corresponding present indicative, past indicative, and past subjunctive, respectively.
 * As became less common and more highly marked, a special present-subjunctive form  developed (replacing the regular present subjunctive form, still used with all other subjects). Additionally, the form , previously a past subjunctive form, came to be used as a past indicative as well.
 * The forms, , and can contract with preceding subjects: , , . The form  most commonly contracts with personal pronouns , but contractions with other subjects are possible; the form  contracts quite freely with a variety of subjects. These contracted forms, however, are possible only when there is an explicit, non-preposed complement, and they cannot be stressed; therefore, the contractions cannot appear at the end of a sentence. Instead one must use the full forms, such as:
 * Who’s here? —I am.
 * I wonder what it is.
 * Several of the finite forms of have special negative forms, containing the suffix, that can be used instead of adding the adverb . Specifically, the forms , , , and  have the negative forms , , , and . The form  itself does not, even in finite uses, with “not be” being used in the present subjunctive and “do not be” or “don’t be” (or, in dated use, “be not”) being used in the imperative. The form  has the negative forms , , and , but all of these are in restricted use; see their entries for details.
 * Outside of Standard English, there is some variation in usage of some forms; some dialects, for example, use or  throughout the present indicative (supplanting, in whole or in part,  and ), and/or  throughout the past indicative and past subjunctive (supplanting ).

Synonyms

 * See also Thesaurus:exist

Etymology 2
A variant of which goes back to  (variant of ).

Etymology 3
.

Etymology
From <, from  <. Compare 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Noun

 * 1) oath
 * 2) vow, swearing

Noun

 * 1) pig

Usage notes

 * In some dialects of Catalan, the sounds associated with the letter b and the letter v are the same: . In order to differentiate be and in those dialects, the letters are often called  and.

Etymology 2
from the sound of a lamb.

Noun

 * 1) sheep, ram, ewe, lamb; an individual of the species

Noun

 * 1)  night

Etymology
From, from. Compare 🇨🇬.

Preposition

 * 1)  at; with; by; near; (close) to

Etymology
.

Adjective

 * 1) red

Adverb

 * 1) in towards the interior of a defined space, such as a building or room

Noun

 * 1) fire

Etymology
From.

Etymology
From.

Noun

 * 1) water

Etymology
From, from +. Cognate with 🇨🇬; see there for more cognates.

Preposition

 * 1)  without
 * 2) besides; but, except

Adjective

 * 1) big; great
 * 2) many; numerous
 * 1) many; numerous

Etymology 1
From.

Etymology 2
From.

Etymology 3
From, , first-person singular of , from , first-person singular of.

Usage notes

 * Less common than.

Etymology 4
From, singular subjunctive of.

Etymology 5
From, 2nd-person singular imperative of , from , 2nd-person singular imperative of.

Etymology 6
(with the -þ replaced with an -n levelled in from the past and subjunctive, then lost), present plural of, from , third-person present plural of.

Usage notes
The usual plural form of is  in the North, been in the Midlands, and  in the South;  also existed, especially early on, but was not the predominant form in any area.

Etymology
From, from , from , from. Cognate with 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Noun

 * 1) path, way

Etymology
From.

Verb

 * 1) to pray
 * 2) to ask something of someone

Etymology
From. Akin to 🇨🇬.

Verb

 * 1) to pray
 * 2) to ask something of someone

Noun

 * 1) bee the letter b

Etymology
From.

Preposition

 * 1) about (concerning)
 * 2) * late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies
 * "ang"

- Hū be mete? hū swīðe lyst þē þæs?


 * 1) * late 10th century, Ælfric's Lives of Saints
 * 2) by, in various senses:
 * 3) near or next to
 * 4) not later than
 * 5) based on, according to
 * 6) for, in the account of
 * 7) * late 10th century, Ælfric, "Passion of St.Alban, Martyr"
 * "ang"
 * "ang"

- Eall swa þa unriht-wisan deman þe heora domas awendað, æfre be þam sceattum na be soðfæstnysse and habbað æfre to cepe heora soðfæstnysse, and swa hi sylfe syllað wið sceattum...

Etymology
From.

Pronoun

 * 1) we (1pl nom)

Etymology 1
From the phonetic pronunciation of the letter /.

Etymology 2
.

Adjective

 * 1)  icky, yucky

Adverb

 * 1)  icky, yucky

Interjection

 * , bad! no touchy!
 * , baa

Etymology
.

Interjection

 * 1) baa

Etymology
From.

Pronoun

 * 1) we;

Etymology 1
From, from. The various forms have different further etymologies: Cognates include 🇨🇬.
 * The b- forms derive from.
 * All other forms derive from, from

Verb

 * 1) to be

Noun

 * 1) water

Etymology
Probably from the name of the letter  (pronounced ).

Etymology
From.

Adjective

 * 1) bad

Etymology 2
Echoic.

Noun

 * 1) baa bleating of a sheep

Etymology
From older, from , from , from , from. Cognate with 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Verb

 * 1) to ask for, request someone else to do something
 * 2) to pray
 * 3) to beg, to plead with someone for help or for a favor
 * 1) to pray
 * 2) to beg, to plead with someone for help or for a favor
 * 1) to beg, to plead with someone for help or for a favor
 * 1) to beg, to plead with someone for help or for a favor

Synonyms

 * (dated for prayer, archaic for other senses)

Etymology
, the Spanish name of the letter /. Ultimately from. .

Alternative forms

 * beh

Noun

 * 1) bean, beans

Etymology 1
Cognate with 🇨🇬 or, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Verb

 * 1) to spread
 * 2) to bulge
 * 3) to spread out
 * 4) to lie down with one's limbs spread out (from tiredness or laziness)
 * 1) to spread out
 * 2) to lie down with one's limbs spread out (from tiredness or laziness)
 * 1) to lie down with one's limbs spread out (from tiredness or laziness)

Derived terms

 * pác be

Noun

 * 1) carp bream

Derived terms

 * pja be

Noun

 * 1) Letter of the Arabic alphabet: ب

Etymology 3
From.

Interjection

 * 1)  hey there, hey! you! implying disapproval of the addressee’s actions

Noun

 * 1) road, path,

Noun

 * 1) wine flask

Etymology 2
Borrowed from.

Adjective

 * 1) beige
 * chiếc áo mưa màu be — a beige raincoat

Verb

 * 1) To build a mud embankment with one's hands.
 * 2) To prop up the lip of a sack while topping off the sack, to ensure a more generous quantity.
 * lấy tay be miệng đấu khi đong đỗ — to surround the top of a measure with one's hands while measuring beans
 * Đong bình thường, không được be đâu đấy. — Measure it out normally; don't prop up the lip of the sack.

Verb

 * 1) To hug a boundary or riverbank.

Etymology 5
Onomatopoeic

Interjection

 * 1)  bleat; baa

Noun

 * 1) water

Noun

 * 1) mouth

Noun

 * 1) bean

Etymology
From.

Usage notes
In past tenses, this auxiliary is usually contracted.

Ngibe ngihamba → Bengihamba "I was walking." (recent past)

Ngabe ngihamba → Ngangihamba "I was walking." (remote past)