be

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by DanTrent (talk | contribs) as of 05:59, 12 January 2020.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Appendix:Variations of "be"

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

Lua error: The template Template:PIE root does not use the parameter(s): 
2=bʰuH
Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.

(deprecated template usage)

From Middle English been (“to be”). The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /biː/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /bi/
  • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -iː
  • Homophones: b, bee, Bea

Verb

be (highly irregular)

  1. (intransitive, now literary) To exist; to have real existence.
    • 1526, Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 2:
      Rachel wepynge ffor her chyldren, and wolde nott be comforted because they were not.
    • 1600, William Shakespeare, Hamlet:
      To be, or not to be, that is the Question […].
    • Template:RQ:Florio Montaigne Essayes
    • 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, II.2:
      There is surely a peece of Divinity in us, something that was before the Elements, and owes no homage unto the Sun.
    • 1886-88, Richard F. Burton, The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night:
      Now one day of the days, […] the Sultan cast his eyes upon her as she stood before him, and said to his Grand Wazir, "This be the very woman whereof I spake to thee yesterday, so do thou straightway bring her before me, that I may see what be her suit and fulfil her need."
    • 2004, Richard Schickel, "Not Just an African Story", Time, 13 December:
      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."
  2. (with there, or dialectally it, as dummy subject) To exist.
    • 1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice:
      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.
    • 1817, Jane Austen, Persuasion:
      "There is a sort of domestic enjoyment to be known even in a crowd, and this you had."
    • 2011, Mark Sweney, The Guardian, 6 July:
      "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.
    There is just one woman in town who can help us. (or, dialectally:) It is just one woman in town who can help us.
  3. (intransitive) To occupy a place.
    The cup is on the table.
  4. (intransitive) To occur, to take place.
    When will the meeting be?
  5. (intransitive, in perfect tenses, without predicate) Elliptical form of "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.
    Moscow, huh? I've never been, but it sounds fascinating.
  6. (transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject and object are the same.
    Knowledge is bliss.
    Hi, I’m Jim.
  7. (transitive, copulative, mathematics) Used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same.
    3 times 5 is fifteen.
  8. (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.
  9. (transitive, copulative) Used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes it.
    The sky is blue.
  10. (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.
  11. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the passive voice.
    The dog was saved by the boy.
    • 1995, C. K. Ogden, Psyche: An Annual General and Linguistic Psychology 1920-1952, C. K. Ogden, →ISBN, page 13:
      Study courses of Esperanto and Ido have been broadcast.
  12. (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.
    • 1995, C. K. Ogden, Psyche: An Annual General and Linguistic Psychology 1920-1952, C. K. Ogden, →ISBN, page 13:
      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.
  13. (auxiliary) Used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs; this was more common in archaic use, especially with verbs indicating motion. "He is finished", and "He is gone" are common, but "He is come" is archaic.
    • 1606, Macbeth by William Shakespeare:
      They are not yet come back. (instead of the modern They have not yet come back.)
    • 1850, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Blessed Damozel, ll.67-68
      ‘I wish that he were come to me, / For he will come,’ she said.
    • 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 […].
    • 1922, A. E. Housman, Last Poems XXV, l.13:
      The King with half the East at heel is marched from lands of morning;
  14. (formal, transitive, auxiliary) Used to express future action as well as what is due to, intended to, or should happen.
    They are to be married next month.
    They are to stay here until I return.
    They are not to be blamed.
    How are they to get out of this mess?
    I am to leave tomorrow.
    I would drive you, were I to obtain a car.
  15. (transitive, copulative) Used to link a subject to a measurement.
    This building is three hundred years old.
    I am 75 kilograms.
    He’s about 6 feet tall.
  16. (transitive, copulative, with a cardinal numeral) Used to state the age of a subject in years.
    I’m 20. (= I am 20 years old.)
  17. (with a dummy subject it) Used to indicate the time of day.
    It is almost eight. (= It is almost eight o’clock.)
    It’s 8:30 [read eight-thirty] in Tokyo.
    What time is it there? It’s night.
  18. (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.
  19. (often impersonal, with it as a dummy subject) Used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like.
    It is hot in Arizona, but it is not usually humid.
    Why is it so dark in here?
  20. (dynamic/lexical "be", especially in progressive tenses, conjugated non-suppletively in the present tense, see usage notes) To exist or behave in a certain way.
    • 2006 October 9, Kristin Newman (writer), Barney Stinson (character), How I Met Your Mother, season 2, episode 1:
      "When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."
    "What do we do?" "We be ourselves."
    Why is he being nice to me?
  21. (African-American Vernacular, Caribbean, auxiliary, not conjugated) To tend to do, often do; marks the habitual aspect.
    • 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’!

Usage notes

  • When used copulatively with a pronoun, traditional grammar puts the pronoun in the subjective case (I, he, she, we, they) rather than the objective case (me, him, her, us, them), 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?”).

Conjugation

*Some non-standard dialects use were in these instances.
**Some non-standard dialects use was in these instances.

*Some non-standard dialects will have were in these instances.
**Some non-standard dialects will have was in these instances.
***Subject pronoun is optional.

  • The verb be is the most irregular non-defective verb in Standard English. Unlike other verbs, which distinguish at most five forms (as in do–does–doing–did–done), be distinguishes many more:
    • Be 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)
    • Be is also used as the present tense indicative form in the alternate, 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[1]:
      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)
    • Am, are, and is are the forms of the present indicative. Am is the first-person singular (used with I); is is the third-person singular (used with he, she, it and other subjects that would be used with does rather than do); and are is both the second-person singular and the plural (used with we, you, they, 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)
    • Was and were are the forms of the past indicative and past subjunctive (like did). In the past indicative, was is the first– and third-person singular (used with I, as well as with he, she, it and other subjects that would be used with does rather than do), and were is both the second-person singular and the plural (used with we, you, they, and any other plural subjects). In the traditional past subjunctive, were is used with all subjects, though many speakers do not actually distinguish the past subjunctive from the past indicative, and therefore use was with first– and third-person singular subjects even in cases where other speakers would use were.
      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)
    • Being is the gerund and present participle, used in noun-like constructions, in the progressive aspect, and after various verbs (like doing). (It’s also used as an actual noun; for those senses, see the entry for being itself.)
      I don’t like being here. (gerund)
      All of a sudden, he’s being nice to everyone. (present participle in the progressive aspect)
      It won’t stop being a problem until someone does something about it. (present participle in the progressive aspect)
    • Been 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 thou, the verb be has a few additional forms:
    • When the pronoun thou was in regular use, the forms art, wast, and wert were the corresponding present indicative, past indicative, and past subjunctive, respectively.
    • As thou became less common and more highly marked, a special present-subjunctive form beest developed (replacing the regular present subjunctive form be, still used with all other subjects). Additionally, the form wert, previously a past subjunctive form, came to be used as a past indicative as well.
  • The forms am, is, and are can contract with preceding subjects: I’m (“I am”), ’s (“is”), ’re (“are”). The form are most commonly contracts with personal pronouns (we’re (“we are”), you’re (“you are”), they’re (“they are”)), but contractions with other subjects is possible; the form is 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, contraction does not occur in sentences such as the following:
    Who’s here? —I am.
    I wonder what it is.
    I don’t want to be involved. —But you are involved, regardless.
  • Several of the finite forms of be have special negative forms, containing the suffix -n’t, that can be used instead of adding the adverb not. Specifically, the forms is, are, was, and were have the negative forms isn’t, aren’t, wasn’t, and weren’t. The form be 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 am has the negative forms aren’t, amn’t, and arguably ain’t, 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 is or ’s throughout the present indicative (supplanting, in whole or in part, am and are), and/or was throughout the past indicative and past subjunctive (supplanting were).

Quotations

Synonyms

Translations

See be/translations § Verb.

References

Anagrams

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *bẹðə < *baidā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰoydʰ-ah₂ < *bʰeydʰ- (“to persuade”).[1] Compare Ancient Greek πείθω (peíthō).

Pronunciation

Noun

be f (plural be, definite beja, definite plural betë)

  1. oath
  2. vow, swearing

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Stefan Schumacher & Joachim Matzinger, Die Verben des Altalbanischen: Belegwörterbuch, Vorgeschichte und Etymologie (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 2013), 236.

Balinese

Noun

be

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

Blagar

Pronunciation

Noun

be

  1. pig

References

Catalan

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

be f (plural bes)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.
Usage notes

In some dialects of Catalan, the sounds associated with the letter b and the letter v are the same: [b ~ 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”).

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic from the sound of a lamb.

Pronunciation

Noun

be m (plural bens)

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

Dorasque

Noun

be

  1. (Changuena, Chumulu, Gualaca) night

References

  • Alphonse Louis Pinart, Vocabulario Castellano-dorasque, Dialectos Chumulu, Gualaca Y Changuina (1890)

Faroese

Noun

be n (genitive singular bes, plural be)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

Declension

Declension of be
n4 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative be beið be beini
accusative be beið be beini
dative be, bei benum beum beunum
genitive bes besins bea beanna

See also

Guerrero Amuzgo

Adjective

be

  1. red

Hungarian

Pronunciation

Adverb

be (comparative beljebb, superlative legbeljebb)

  1. in

Derived terms

See also

Iau

Noun

be

  1. fire

Further reading

Bill Palmer, The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area (→ISBN, 2017), page 531, table 95, Comparative basic vocabulary in Lakes Plain Languages

Ido

Pronunciation

Noun

be (plural be-i)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter B/b.

See also

Japanese

Romanization

be

  1. Rōmaji transcription of べ (hiragana)
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ベ (katakana)

Karajá

Noun

be

  1. water

References

  • David Lee Fortune, Gramática Karajá: um Estudo Preliminar em Forma Transformacional

Latin

Pronunciation

Noun

bē f (indeclinable)

  1. The name of the letter B.

Coordinate terms

References

  • Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), part III: “Summary of the Ancient Evidence”, page 32: "Clearly there is no question or doubt about the names of the vowels A, E, I, O, U. They are simply long A, long E, etc. (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). Nor is there any uncertainty with respect to the six mutes B, C, D, G, P, T. Their names are bē, cē, dē, gē, pē, tē (each with a long E). Or about H, K, and Q: they are hā, kā, kū—each, again, with a long vowel sound."

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

Preposition

be (with genitive)

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

Antonyms

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English bēon.

Verb

be

  1. Alternative form of been

Etymology 2

From Old English bēo.

Noun

be

  1. Alternative form of bee

Etymology 3

From Old English bēo, bēom, first-person singular of bēon, from Proto-Germanic *biumi, first-person singular of *beuną,

Verb

be

  1. Template:enm-first-person singular of
Usage notes
  • Less common than am.

Etymology 4

From Old English bēo, singular subjunctive of bēon.

Verb

be

  1. Template:enm-singular subjunctive of
Descendants
  • English: be
  • Scots: be

Etymology 5

From Old English bēo, 2nd-person singular imperative of bēon, from Proto-Germanic *beu, 2nd-person singular imperative of *beuną.

Verb

be

  1. singular imperative of been
Descendants
  • English: be
  • Scots: be

Etymology 6

Old English bēoþ (with the -þ replaced with an -n levelled in from the past and subjunctive, then lost), present plural of bēon (“to be”), from Proto-Germanic *biunþi, third-person present plural of *beuną (“to be, become”).

Alternative forms

Verb

be

  1. Template:enm-plural of
Usage notes

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

Descendants
  • English: be (obsolete or dialectal as the plural)
  • Scots: be

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse biðja

Verb

be (imperative be, present tense ber, passive bes, simple past ba or bad, past participle bedt, present participle beende)

  1. to pray
  2. to ask something of someone

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

  • “be” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
  • “be” in The Ordnett Dictionary

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Norse biðja. Akin to English bid.

Pronunciation

Verb

be (present tense ber, past tense bad, past participle bede or bedd or bedt, present participle bedande, imperative be)

  1. to pray
  2. to ask something of someone

Derived terms

References

  • “be” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
  • “be” in The Ordnett Dictionary

Old Irish

Alternative forms

  • (2nd sg. pres. subj.): ba

Verb

be

  1. second-person singular present subjunctive of is
  2. first-person singular future of is
  3. second-person singular future of is

Old Prussian

Conjunction

be

  1. and
    wāiklis be mērgā - a boy and a girl

Preposition

be

  1. without

Polish

Pronunciation

Noun

be n (indeclinable)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

Adjective

be (indeclinable, comparative bardziej be, superlative najbardziej be)

  1. (childish) bad, not suitable, not eatable

Interjection

be

  1. (onomatopoeia) A sound of a sheep

Further reading

Scots

Etymology

From Old English bēon.

Verb

tae be

  1. To be.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of be (highly irregular, suppletive)
infinitive tae be
present participle bein
past participle been
person singular plural
A thoo1 he/she/it we ye they
regular emphatic negative regular emphatic negative regular emphatic negative regular emphatic negative regular emphatic negative regular emphatic negative
present am amna art artna is isna are arena are arena are arena
past wis wis, wir2
1Archaic.
2Used only with plural pronouns.
    Northern Scots conjugation of be (highly irregular, suppletive)
infinitive tae be
present participle bein
past participle been
person singular plural
A ee hei/shi/it oo yow yins they
regular emphatic negative regular emphatic negative regular emphatic negative regular emphatic negative regular emphatic negative regular emphatic negative
present im em, um imni ir er, ur irni is es isni ir er, ur irni is es isni ir er, ur irni
past wuz wuz, wur wuz wur

Serili

Noun

be

  1. water

References

  • Roger Blench, The Enggano (in notes)
  • ABVD (as 'bɛ)
  • ASJP (as bE, representing bɛ)

Slovene

Etymology

Probably from the German name of the letter B (pronounced [beː]).

Pronunciation

Noun

bẹ̑ m inan

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

Inflection

 The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
Masculine inan., soft o-stem
nom. sing. bé
gen. sing. bêja
singular dual plural
nominative
(imenovȃlnik) 		bé bêja bêji
genitive
(rodȋlnik) 		bêja bêjev bêjev
dative
(dajȃlnik) 		bêju bêjema bêjem
accusative
(tožȋlnik) 		bé bêja bêje
locative
(mẹ̑stnik) 		bêju bêjih bêjih
instrumental
(orọ̑dnik) 		bêjem bêjema bêji

Synonyms

Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

Adjective

be

  1. bad

Spanish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

be f (plural bes)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.
    Synonyms: be larga, be alta, be grande, be de burro
    Coordinate terms: uve, ve corta, ve baja, ve chica, ve de vaca

Etymology 2

Echoic.

Noun

be m (plural bes)

  1. baa (bleating of a sheep)

Further reading

Swedish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From older bedja, from Old Swedish biþia, from Old Norse biðja, from Proto-Germanic *bidjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰedʰ-. Cognate with Danish bede, Icelandic biðja, English bid, Dutch bidden, German bitten.

Pronunciation

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

Conjugation

Conjugation of be (weak)
Active Passive
Infinitive be bes
Supine bett betts
Imperative be —
Imper. plural1 ben —
Present Past Present Past
Indicative ber bad bes bads
Ind. plural1 be bad bes bads
Subjunctive2 be bad bes bads
Participles
Present participle beende
Past participle bedd
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.
Conjugation of bedja (weak)
Active Passive
Infinitive bedja bedjas
Supine bett betts
Imperative bed —
Imper. plural1 beden —
Present Past Present Past
Indicative beder, bedjer bad beds, bedes, bedjes bads
Ind. plural1 bedja bad bedjas bads
Subjunctive2 bede bad bedes bads
Participles
Present participle bedjande
Past participle bedd
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Tarao

Alternative forms

Noun

be

  1. bean, beans

References

  • 2002, Chungkham Yashwanta Singh, Tarao Grammar

Turkish

Etymology 1

Noun

be

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

See also

Etymology 2

From Arabic بَاء (bāʔ).

Noun

be

  1. Letter of the Arabic alphabet: ب

Etymology 3

Interjection

be

  1. (very informal) hey there, hey! you! (implying disapproval of the addressee’s actions)
  2. strengthening of the preceding sentence
    Bu yük çok ağır be! ― My, this load is very heavy

Tzotzil

Pronunciation

  • (Zinacantán) IPA(key): /ɓɛ/

Noun

be

  1. road, path, way

References

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

be

  1. wine flask
    Rượu ngon chẳng quản be sành.
    Good wine does not mind a terracotta flask.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French beige.

Adjective

be

  1. beige
    chiếc áo mưa màu be — a beige raincoat

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

be

  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.

Etymology 4

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

be

  1. To hug a boundary or riverbank.
    Thuyền be theo bờ sông.
    The boat hugged the riverbank.

Etymology 5

Onomatopoeic

Interjection

be • (𠻻, 𠾦)

  1. (onomatopoeia) bleat; baa

References

"be" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)

West Makian

Noun

be

  1. water

References

  • C. L. Voorhoeve, The Makian Languages and Their Neighbours (1982)

Zou

Noun

be

  1. bean

References

Zulu

Etymology

From -ba (“to be”).

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /ɓe/

Verb

-be

  1. (auxiliary) forms continuous tenses [with participial]
    Ngesonto elilandelayo ngizobe ngisebenza kakhulu.
    Next week I will be working a lot.

Inflection

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

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)

References

C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “-ɓe”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ɓe”

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=be&oldid=58375163"