be

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Verb 1.2.1.1 Inflection 1.2.1.2 Translations 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Abbreviation 1.4 Etymology 3 1.4.1 Abbreviation 1.5 References 2 Albanian 2.1 Noun 3 Amuzgo 3.1 Adjective 4 Balinese 4.1 Noun 5 Catalan 5.1 Etymology 1 5.1.1 Noun 5.1.1.1 Derived terms 5.1.1.2 Usage notes 5.2 Etymology 2 5.2.1 Noun 6 Hungarian 6.1 Pronunciation 6.2 Adverb 6.2.1 Derived terms 6.3 See also 7 Lithuanian 7.1 Pronunciation 7.2 Preposition 7.2.1 Antonyms 8 Lojban 8.1 Particle 8.1.1 Related terms 9 Norwegian 9.1 Etymology 9.2 Verb 9.2.1 Synonyms 9.2.2 Derived terms 9.2.3 Related terms 9.2.4 References 10 Old Prussian 10.1 Conjunction 10.2 Preposition 11 Scots 11.1 Etymology 11.2 Verb 11.2.1 Conjugation 12 Spanish 12.1 Noun 13 Swedish 13.1 Pronunciation 13.2 Alternative spellings 13.3 Verb

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /biː/, SAMPA: /bi:/
• (US) IPA: /bi/, SAMPA: /bi/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -iː

• Homophones: bee

[edit] Etymology 1

Originated before 900 from Middle English been < Old English beon, from beo + -n, infinitive suffix. Irregular forms inherited from the Old English compound verb bēon-wesan.

[edit] Verb

be (highly irregular)

1. (intransitive) To occupy a place.

   The cup is on the table.

2. (intransitive) To occur, to take place.

   When will the meeting be?

3. (intransitive, without predicate) To exist.
4. (intransitive, without predicate) elliptical form of for "be here", "go to and return from" or similar.

   The postman has been today, but my tickets have still not yet come.

   I have been to Spain many times.

5. (transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject and object are the same.

   Ignorance is bliss.

6. (transitive, copulative, mathematics) Used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same.

   3 times 5 is fifteen.

7. (transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominal.

   François Mitterrand was president of France from 1981 to 1995.

8. (transitive, copulative) Used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes it.

   The sky is blue.

9. (transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.

   The sky is a deep blue today.

10. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the passive voice.

    The dog was drowned by the boy.

11. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the continuous forms of various tenses.

    The woman is walking.

    I shall be writing to you soon.

    We liked to chat while we were eating.

12. (archaic) Used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs. Often still used for to go

    They are not yet come back. (Macbeth by William Shakespeare) (instead of They have not yet come back.)

    • 1850, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Blessed Damozel, lines 67-68

      ‘I wish that he were come to me,

      For he will come,’ she said.

    • 1922, A. E. Housman, Last Poems XXV, line 13

      The King with half the East at heel is marched from lands of morning;

    He is gone.

13. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form future tenses, especially the future subjunctive.

    I am to leave tomorrow.

    I would drive you, were I to obtain a car.

14. Used to indicate age.

    This building is three hundred years old.

    He looks twelve, but is actually thirteen, and will turn fourteen next week.

15. Used to indicate height.

    He was five-eight.

16. Used to indicate time of day, day of the week, or date.

    It’s almost eight.

    Today is the second, so I guess next Tuesday must be the tenth.

17. With since, used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event.

    It has been three years since my grandmother died. (similar to My grandmother died three years ago, but emphasizes the intervening period)

    It had been six days since his departure, when I received a letter from him.

18. (often impersonal) Used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like.

    It’s hot in Arizona, but it’s not usually humid.

    Why is it so dark in here?

19. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Used to indicate temperature.

    It’s in the eighties outside, and next week it’s expected to be in the nineties! (Fahrenheit degrees)

[edit] Inflection

Infinitive	to be
Imperative	be
Present participle	being
Past participle	been

	Present indicative	Past indicative	Present subjunctive	Past subjunctive
First-person singular	am	was	be	were
Second-person singular	are, art (archaic)	were, wast (archaic)	be, beest (obsolete)	were, wert (archaic)
Third-person singular	is	was	be	were
First-person plural	are	were	be	were
Second-person plural	are	were	be	were
Third-person plural	are	were	be	were

[edit] Translations

Warning! This verb is fraught with irregularities of both form and usage in many languages. Use translations with caution.

[edit] Etymology 2

Abbreviation of Belgium.

[edit] Abbreviation

be

1. (Internet) The country code for Belgium.

[edit] Etymology 3

Abbreviation of Belarusian.

[edit] Abbreviation

be

1. The ISO 639 alpha-2 language code for Belarusian.

[edit] References

• “be” in The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
• “be” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• “be” in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

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[edit] Albanian

[edit] Noun

be

1. oath

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[edit] Amuzgo

[edit] Adjective

be

1. red

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[edit] Balinese

[edit] Noun

be

1. fish
2. meat, fish, tofu, egg (everything that is eaten with rice except vegetables)

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[edit] Catalan

[edit] Etymology 1

[edit] Noun

be f. (plural bes)

1. The letter B (lowercase b).

[edit] Derived terms

• be alta

[edit] Usage notes

In some dialects of Catalan, the sounds associated with the letter b and the letter v are the same: IPA: β. In order to differentiate be and ve in those dialects, the letters are often called be alta (“‘high B’”) and ve baixa (“‘low V’”).

[edit] Etymology 2

Onomatopeic from the sound of a lamb.

[edit] Noun

be m. (plural bens)

1. sheep, ram, ewe, lamb; an individual of the species Ovis aries

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[edit] Hungarian

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɛ/
•  Audio^{help, file}

[edit] Adverb

be

1. in

[edit] Derived terms

• befelé

[edit] See also

• be-, benn, bent, bél, belső

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[edit] Lithuanian

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: [bɛ]

[edit] Preposition

be (with genitive)

1. (shows absence of something) without
2. besides; but, except

[edit] Antonyms

• su

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[edit] Lojban

[edit] Particle

be

1. Connects the following sumti to the previous sumti as an internal sumti (subordinate clause); by default as the x2 argument

   le klama be la paris.

   the one going to Paris

   le klama be fo la paris.

   the one travelling via Paris

[edit] Related terms

• bei
• be'o

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[edit] Norwegian

[edit] Etymology

From Old Norse biðja

[edit] Verb

be (present tense ber, past tense ba or bad, present passive bes, past participle bedt, present participle bedende, imperative be) (Bokmål)
be (present tense ber or bed or beder, past tense bad, past participle bede or bedi or bedd or bedt, present participle bedande, imperative be) (Nynorsk)

1. To pray.
2. To ask something of someone.

[edit] Synonyms

• bede

[edit] Derived terms

• beding

[edit] Related terms

• bøn / bønn

[edit] References

• “be” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary – Dokumentasjonsprosjektet.
• “be” in The Ordnett Dictionary

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[edit] Old Prussian

[edit] Conjunction

be

1. and

   wāiklis be mērgā - a boy and a girl

[edit] Preposition

be

1. without

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[edit] Scots

[edit] Etymology

Old English bēon-wesan.

[edit] Verb

tae be

1. To be.

[edit] Conjugation

In most dialects:

A am (emphatic same, negative amna) ye are (emphatic same, negative arena) he/she/it is (emphatic same, negative isna) we are (emphatic same, negative arena) ye are (emphatic same, negative arena) they are (emphatic same, negative arena)

present participle: bein past participle: been past tense: wis (with singular pronouns & plural nouns); wis or wir (with plural pronouns)

In South Scots:

A im (emphatic em or um, negative imni) ee ir (emphatic er or ur, negative irni) hei/shi/it is (emphatic es, negative isni) oo ir (emphatic er or ur, negative irni) yow yins is (emphatic es, negative isni) they ir (emphatic er or ur, negative irni)

present participle: bein past participle: been past tense: wuz or wur (usually used as in English, except with "ee", which can take either)

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[edit] Spanish

[edit] Noun

be f. (plural bes)

1. Name of the letter b.

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[edit] Swedish

Conjugations of be
Infinitive	be
Present tense	ber
Past tense	bad
Supine	bett
Imperative	be
Present participle	bedjande
Past participle	bedd

[edit] Pronunciation

•  audio^{help, file}

[edit] Alternative spellings

• bedja (now only in religious and archaic contexts)

[edit] Verb

be

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.