быть

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Russian

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old East Slavic бꙑти (byti), from Proto-Slavic *byti, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *bū́ˀtei. Cognate with Ukrainian бути (buty), Belarusian быць (bycʹ), Polish być. Other cognates include Sanskrit भू (bhū, to be), Latin futūrus, and English be.

The present forms are suppletive, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [bɨtʲ]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɨtʲ

Verb

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быть (bytʹimpf

  1. to be [with instrumental or nominative]
    Так бы́ло, так есть и так бу́дет всегда́!
    Tak býlo, tak jestʹ i tak búdet vsegdá!
    So it was, so it is, and so it will always be! [from the State Anthem of the Russian Federation]
    быть под каблуко́мbytʹ pod kablukómto be henpecked

Usage notes

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  • Omitted in the present tense except in the third-person singular есть (jestʹ), which is used occasionally to express possession or definition or for emphasis. есть (jestʹ) was originally the third-person singular, but is now used for all persons, e.g.
Я и есть тот челове́к.
Ja i jestʹ tot čelovék.
I am that person.
See also .

Conjugation

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Notes on present tense forms:

  • есть (jestʹ) is the only present tense form. In works of literature, it can be used as a copula, as in Church Slavonic, for emphasis.
  • Extremely rarely, the Church Slavonic forms есмь (jesmʹ), есь (jesʹ), еси́ (jesí), есмы́ (jesmý), and е́сте (jéste) appear in some styles of literature. They are not understood by most speakers and are not normally considered part of the language.
  • суть (sutʹ) is the Church Slavonic third-person plural. In modern Russian it has been conflated with the noun суть (sutʹ, essence), and may occur in formal styles with a vague unetymological meaning ‘is in essence’ indiscriminately of person and number.

Derived terms

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verbs

See also

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  • conditional/subjunctive particle:
    бы (by), б (b)